


Break Even

by 10th_Symphony



Category: Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Angst, Broken Family, Cancer, Feels, Gay Rights, Heartbreak, Hospital, Love, M/M, Oblivious Steve Rogers, lovestory, lying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-01
Updated: 2015-11-29
Packaged: 2018-05-03 03:09:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 27,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5274293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/10th_Symphony/pseuds/10th_Symphony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You know, Steve has natural blond hair.<br/>And he hates the snow, but he loves the rain.<br/>He likes to lay in bed on lazy mornings.<br/>And he had this spot on the back of his neck he liked me to rub.<br/>He particularly enjoys candle light.<br/>And he likes to dance, but when nobody is watching.<br/>When he felt tired and down, he liked to lay his head on my lap.<br/>And he sang old songs I didn't understand, but I still loved to listen anyways.<br/>I cherished everything about him because, he was my reason to live."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After a year of sugar and spice with his fiancé Steve, Tony realizes that he has cancer and it's spreading fast. Gamma radiation emitted from the older models of his ironman suits cause cancer cells in his body to spread rapidly to the point where there's no cure and he can't hide it from Steve any longer. Upon hearing the news, Steve's perfect little world has crashed. His small light in a scary, unfamiliar place is beginning to dim and he learns for the first time that hearts don't break even.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was my first ever fan fiction that I wrote about a few years ago. I only brushed it up a tad but I wanted to share it with everyone! I hope it's not disgustingly horrible...

"Hey Steve... How about we get hitched. That sound good to you?"

"Stark, are you proposing to me?" Tony scoffed at this and looked out of the window of the small cafe we were eating at. Some sort of indie, pop rock music was playing softly in the background and outside, the pink petals from a nearby crabapple tree were falling and dancing around in the wind. They kicked up and swirled in small tornados and then swept down the block.

"Uh, duh? I thought that was pretty clear. What, do you want me to get on my knee and beg for your acceptance? Listen Cap, I've still got my dignity." 

I gave him one of my classic 'Stark glares' until he sighed and stood up.

"Don't joke about marriage, Tony. It's serious business. And besides, gay marriage hasn't been legalized here yet." I watched him get out of his seat and smooth down his expensive-looking gray suit.

"So you're not denying you have feelings for me? That's comforting to know." 

I just snorted and shook my head.

"We've been dating for the longest, Stark. If I didn't like you, I would have never accepted your proposal to be an item. What's your whole point in this? Sit back down." 

"I'm proving my feelings are true. I see you like the old fashioned way best. And we can just wait to have an official marriage service once they DO legalize it." He grabbed his coffee mug and tapped it thrice with his tea spoon. 

"Excuse me, excuse me commoners. I have something I'd like to say." Everyone turned their attention to him and I covered my face with my hand out of embarrassment. I even think a few of the people watching took out their cellular devices to capture the moment. "I, Anthony Stark, in full view of this cafe... Give my heart and soul to the man I love." He got on one knee and took my free hand gently in both of his. "Steven, honey, look at me. Please."

"Are you being serious right now...?" I muttered as I continued to avoid eye contact with him. Why did he have to be an idiot in PUBLIC? 

"As serious as Clint's receding hairline." I heard a muffled growl from the crowd, but I was too flustered to think about it.

"Oh god Stark, just stop... This isn't funny." My eyes were burning with the heat of tears; the blush rising in my face and my loud heartbeat resonating all the way up to my ears and down to my neck. My breathing quickened and I shook my head slowly to the left and to the right in complete shock.

"I love you Steve. Will you... Will you marry me?" He pulled out a small box from his pocket and opened it to show a beautifully adorned, silver wedding band.

"Tony..." I sighed as I slowly moved the hand blocking my face. "You're an arrogant, selfish, power-hungry man that enjoys the sound of clinking coins and the weight of a full purse,"

Tony looked at me with a shocked expression. "Ok, first of all, you're not the 'perfect soldier' everyone makes you out to be either-" I shushed him with my finger.

"Let me finish. You've slept around a bit; well, a lot, and some days Pepper would call me over to help clean up and I'd find you in an egregious state; liquored up by the side of your bed and crying. Sometimes I thought, 'Well gee. If I were with him, I'd never treat him like this. I'd give him nothing but love and be there to comfort him when he was sad. Then I'd fix the broken parts of him that make him so jagged and fill in the holes that make him so hollow.' But now... You've given me the chance to prove to you that, that's exactly what I intend to do. I'll never leave your side for as long as we're together because... I love you." I pulled him forward by the fancy tie and kissed him. A soft, passionate kiss that sent waves of heat from my heart, all the way down to my fingertips. It warmed me up inside and gave me this sense of completion; almost like I'd never been whole without his lips against mine.

I closed my eyes and smiled into the kiss as people cheered, clapped and whistled. Flashes went off and poppers blasted in my ear. Confetti decorated the floor and I looked into the fray to see all of our friends. Happy was holding a blasted popper, Pepper was smiling, Natasha was clapping, Clint was smirking, Thor was throwing confetti with a smile too big for his face, Bruce was smiling and clapping, Phil was crying happily and even director Fury was staring at us with a half smile, half frown thing on his face... I knew he meant well. They were all clapping and smiling at the two of us together and it made me blush even harder.

"T-Tony... Did you plan this?" I covered my mouth and let go of his tie. He straightened it out and wrapped his arm around my neck and used the other to signal a thumbs up to the crowd.

"Every part. Well, all except for that mini speech you made. Which, by the way, sent chills up my spine. You'll pay for that later, but, I honestly thought you were rejecting me. But then I thought, 'Wait. I'm Tony Stark. No one can resist Tony Stark." I just smiled and held him in a tight embrace.

"This is so embarrassing! God I swear Tony. You're a piece of work. But... You're my piece of work." I felt him relax against my shoulder and hug me back.

"Yea Steve. I'm yours."


	2. Tony: Chapter 1

~*One Year Later*~

I flew into the garage of my Stark mansion and landed my ironman suit on the platform as it was disassembled off of me.

"Hey Jarvis. I feel like I'm forgetting something. Tell me what it is."

"Your anniversary sir?"

"Oh yea. That's probably it." I walked to my mini bar, poured myself a small glass of whiskey with a giant ice cube in it, then put some ice in a bag and put it to my forehead. I'd been having all these monster headaches lately but it was allergy season so it could have been something pertaining to that. I'd also been taking a shit ton of medicine I found in the cabinets to make them go away. They probably expired but who cared? Medicine is medicine. It should work anyways right? "Ah... Shit. What can I do for him today then? I need ideas."

"Sir, you're asking an AI program as to what you should do for your anniversary?"

I raised an eyebrow at his tone. "Hey, a little less sass please. I asked a direct question and I expect a direct answer." Jarvis went silent as he checked through his database.

"My apologies. A popular place to go for an anniversary is to a fancy restaurant."

"Nah. We went to New York to eat at Le Bernardin like, last week?" I knocked back the whiskey and rubbed the flesh right under my jaw to soothe the stinging feeling from the liquor.

"Last month sir. How does a movie sound? There are a plethora of-"

"Stop right there. You know I can't sit on my ass for something like that. Unless it's Annie or something."

Jarvis quietly went on to himself. "Yet you can sit on your derrière for days while constructing your ironman suits?"

I whipped around quickly. "What did you just say?"

"How about an amusement park?" 

I stayed quiet for a while. "An amusement park? Yea, not my idea of fun but Steve is like a giant, burly kid so he'd probably like that. Clear both our schedules and redirect all my calls to voicemail. Don't care who it is."

"Already done. And, would you like me to run a scan on you? I ran some maintenance tests on your suits and they're giving off immense waves of Gamma radiation. I fear for your health." 

"That's impossible Jarvis. I made sure that my reactor was running on pure, clean, energy. Gamma radiation isn't possible at this point so check again." I set the ice pack down and walked to my computers.

"Yes well, it was some of your older suits that I ran tests on. You decided to fly them recently for, 'Old Time's Sake' and I'm positive they weren't running on clean energy at the time so I'm going to run a scan on you to see if there's any side affects to it. Hold still." Jarvis pointed a tiny laser at me that grew into a huge red wall of light. It scanned me up and down and I blinked a couple times when it finished. "I shall confirm my reports in an hour or two." 

"Yea, I don't remember agreeing to that scan-" I heard a doorbell ring and like a deer in the headlights I froze up completely.

"Steven is at the door requesting permission to enter. Do you accept?" I broke out of my shock at the sound of Steve's name and pressed a button on my wall to see a small screen that showed my front door. Steve was standing there awkwardly, holding a bouquet of flowers behind his back.

"When do I not accept? Oh Steve... My poor, literally poor, poor Steve... Let him in Jarvis." I pretended to do work on one of my cars until Steve finally made his way to my garage like, 10 minutes later. "Steve, what took so long?"

"Sorry Tony. I kinda got lost... Again..." He looked down sheepishly; his face turning red. God was he cute. "But, I got you something nice." He walked over to the car I was now under and held out the bouquet. "Happy anniversary Tony! A-are flowers a little old fashioned? Cause I could-"

"No Steve," I smiled, got out from under the car, and stood up. "I love them. They're perfect just like you." I gave him a quick kiss on the lips and walked over to my mini bar. "And guess what I got you Steve."

"Umm, is it another fancy doodad I can't operate? Cause I got a bunch of them already." He set the bouquet down on my desk and leaned up against the wall. "Between you and Fury, I don't know which ones confuse me the most."

"Uh, no-wait... What the hell is a doodad? And why the hell is Fury sending you shit?" I poured myself another glass of liquor as Steve stared at it disapprovingly. "You know what, it's not important. I'll just assume doodad is one of your old man words and Fury is trying to outshine me. But he can't so he should stop trying. Anyways, I got you, a whole day off with me at Six Flags! Yay!" Steve just stared at me blankly. "Ok. I don't know about your time, but nowadays awkward silences are bad things. Do you not like the idea of us being together all day?"

"Ah, no... I don't want you to feel bad or anything but the thought of going to a museum about 6 types of flags just doesn't sound too interesting to me..." I couldn't help but laugh. Did he even bother to look at the list of things he needed to look up? Oh who am I kidding. Even if he still had the list, he wouldn't know how to use the computer to look it up and explaining electronics to him is like explaining the internet to a 96 year old man... Well... That's literally what it is.

"No Steve. Six Flags is an amusement park. You had those back in the forties right?"

"Well, sure, but we didn't have Six Flags back then. We had Coney Island though. I remember one time my old boyfriend James, forced me onto the Cyclone and I threw up."

I stayed quiet for a while and my eye twitched thinking about how Steve could've gotten a boyfriend back then. He told me about how frail and weak hearted he used to be and the thought of some other guy being into that is weird as hell. What kind of sick, perverse weirdo was he dating? And more importantly, what kind of sick, perverse weirdo was he possibly fucking? Well, it was all in the past and this James guy is probably old and dead now so who cares right? "Ok... Well, at least you've got a frame of reference. These rides are even more intense than the stupid Cyclone. I'm gonna force you on Tatsu and whatnot so you better hold in your chunks. Got it? Oh yea. And bring a pair of swim trunks cause there's a water park section."

"Tatsu? Is that Japanese? Is Six Flags in Japan? Tony, that's going to take us days! First we need to GET to Japan, then of course stay at a hotel, accommodate for the jet lag by sleeping a whole bunch; not that I mind sleeping together with you... B-but then we need to sight see a little, oh! Then we can try some of those... Uh... Those whatchamacallits that are all the rage with the youth of today. Umm... Hockey sticks? Pocky sticks? Something like that."

I put my hand to my face and massaged the bridge of my nose. "Steve, I'm not going to explain every little thing to you so listen. I'm going to take you to Six Flags and let Six Flags explain itself. And no, before you say it, the rides will NOT speak to you." I turned to get Steve a pair of swim trunks when my knees buckled beneath me and I struggled to stand up. My hand knocked the glass over and it shattered in a spray of liquor and sharp glass shards.

"Tony are you alright!?" Steve exclaimed as he jogged to my side to help me up but I waved him off.

"N-no... I've got it... Jarvis, wrap it up with that scan." 

"Yes sir." Jarvis responded and sent Dummy to hand me my Bluetooth on a sterling salver. "I'll contact you about the results soon enough." I took the device with a shaky hand and struggled to my feet.

"Let's get going Steve. I think I'll take a car today... I'm not feeling well enough to use the suit."

"Are you sure you still want to go? I mean... I could stay here and help nurse you back to health."

I thought about his request deeply. "Ya know, as much as I'd love to see you in a maid or nurse outfit-"

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT." He breathed through gritted teeth.

"I don't want to miss this special day. It's been a year since I proposed to you. It's just my allergies Steve." 

"Well, if you get any worse, we're high-tailing it back home. Got it?" I smiled and nodded. 

"Got it Cap."


	3. Steve: Chapter 2

We sat in his fancy sports car for over an hour just speeding by all the rest of the cars. He had the top down, his shades on, and the music blasting at higher decibels than I even thought possible for a car radio. The fragrant wind jostled through our hair and the sun beat down on the backs of our necks. It was surprisingly nice for an early-spring day.

"Hey Tony," I yelled over the music. "When do you think we'll get there? I'm kind of excited to spend a whole day with you, but I didn't bring that much money with me. I kinda just figured we'd be hanging out at your place all day."

"Well, shit Steve. You could've told me like 12 exits back and I'd have driven to that little strip mall with the ATM and Nathan's Hotdogs. And who stays at their fiancé's house all day for their anniversary?" He turned the music down a bit. "Wait hang on; someone's trying to call me." He pressed his Bluetooth to accept the call. "What." He paused a bit. "Ok. So what did they say?" I couldn't hear the conversation all that much over the wind and music but I knew it wasn't good. Tony's face darkened and his snarky expression faded into a somber one. "Oh. Well, if that's all, I'm just gonna go now. I'm almost at the park and I need to focus on finding a parking space." He clicked the earpiece again and sighed.

"What was that about?" I gave him a worried look.

"Ah..." He glanced at me and upon seeing my expression, he paused to think. Almost like he was analyzing my reaction and fabricating another one of his sly fibs. "It was nothing. Just the results to an analysis I had Jarvis run before you came to see me. Let's just say I didn't get choice results." Before I could say anything else he turned the dial up on his radio and blasted the music again. "Oh Steve," He yelled. "This is like, my favorite song on this station." 

I picked up on the hint to leave the issue alone for now and changed the subject with him. "Oh really? It doesn't seem like a song you would listen to in your spare time but it does sound a bit familiar. Maybe I've heard it somewhere before. What's the name of it?"

"You should remember it. It's Breakeven by The Script. When I proposed to you last year, I had this song playing in the background. Although it had nothing to do with our situation, I liked the song anyways and no one can tell me what I can and can't play." He glanced at me for a bit to see if I remembered even in the slightest, but shook his head at my fading memory on the specific details. I shrugged and sat back in my seat as he turned into the parking lot of the amusement park.

"Oh look Tony!" I pointed to a huge orange ride that seemed to twist and turn at every possible degree. People were screaming as they raced up, down, forward, sideways and in loops in a rush of adrenaline and pressurized metal.

"Yea Steve. That's Tatsu. That's the ride I'm forcing you on when we get inside the park." We slowly crept to the pay booth behind a long line of other cars. When we reached the front of the line, Tony lowered his music and waited for the person in the booth to lower their window.

A woman, with more piercings on her face than skin, opened the tinted window to the small faded-white booth on Tony's left and scrutinized us with squinted eyes. She had a short, hot pink Mohawk with the sides of her head closely shaved and dragon tattoos racing up and down the nape of her neck and wrapping around her ears with a menacing hiss to those who told her whatever she didn't want to hear. She surely saw my shocked expression at the way she defaced her... Well, face! She just chewed whatever she had in her mouth, real slow as she looked from me to Tony, then back to me. I gulped at her piercing gaze and sank back in my seat in a fruitless attempt at collapsing in on myself and shunning away her prying eyes. She just smirked and rested a tattooed elbow on the window sill.

"How can I help you two gentlemen." She cocked an eyebrow at us and blew a thin green bubble that blocked out her hooked nose. Tony waited for it to pop before starting his sentence.

"Yea I want two tickets for the park. One adult, one senior."

"Tony..."

"Excuse me but, you need to be at least 60 for a senior ticket," She glanced between the both of us and blew another bubble. "And from the looks of it, neither of you reach that criteria, SIR. I don't know if you knew or not, but I finished high school. I can tell a middle aged man from a senior citizen." Her words held venom and I feared that Tony might retaliate. I lightly grabbed hold of his shoulder to stabilize him but he was already too far gone.

"Well excuse YOU, 'ma'am'. I don't know if YOU knew THIS or not, but I am motherFUCKING Tony Stark. I graduated MIT with FUCKING HONORS at the age of 17, and now I am a goddamn BILLIONAIRE, so your punkass high school education has exactly jack shit on me. I'm one of those guys that when I say jump, you ask how high. Got it? So when I say that this extremely toned, heavily muscled gentleman next to me that could easily bash your fucking face in is 60+ years old, you better believe me and give me the fucking senior ticket or I swear to god, I will make him make you give me the damn ticket." I just sat there with my mouth agape. Of course I knew Tony had a colorful vocabulary but I'd never seen him use such a huge portion of those words in one sitting. I was completely and utterly flabbergasted.

"Yea well, 'Mr. Stark', I don't give a rat's ass about what the hell you've done or how much you make. I'll call my manager and have him escort you off the premises-"

"NO! I'll escort YOU of the premises. Look. JUST TAKE MY FUCKING MONEY AND GIVE ME THE GODDAMN TICKETS!" He hastily took his wallet out of his back pocket and threw several bills at her. 

She just watched the bills flutter towards her and looked back at Tony with a scowl. "Don't think you've won this. I'm just giving you the tickets so you can get the hell outta here. You're holding up the line and I've honestly had enough of your bullshit." She counted the bills tantalizingly slowly and once satisfied she ducked back into the booth and came back minutes later with two tickets. Tony quickly snatched them from her outstretched arm and drove off without a minutes haste. I looked back only to see her flipping us off and I gasped.

"Tony she's-" I then looked at Tony to see that he was displaying the same degenerate action while driving forward with one hand on the wheel.


	4. Tony: Chapter 3

~*Later*~

We found a parking spot a bit of a ways away from the entrance and Steve was way more exited than he should have been. He looked like an ADD kid in a candy store. I thought about maybe making a makeshift leash out of the S&M ropes I had in my trunk but I thought that'd look weird for anyone on the outside looking in.

"Oh my gosh! Tony can you believe how big these rides are!? This is gonna be so great!" He got out of the car and quickly jogged to the front entrance.

"You sure are spry and chipper for an old man. Hey Steve wait up, I can't run as fast as you and your steroid-enhanced legs." I tried my hardest to catch up with him but I felt that same vertigo from earlier. I slowed to a stop by a garbage can in the shade as my breakfast threatened to come back up again. My eyes blurred behind my shades as I stood over the garbage and waited for a bit until I couldn't anymore. Sweet saliva stung my tonsils and the back of my throat as the contents of my stomach spilled past my teeth and into the waste receptacle. My diaphragm heaved violently as if it had a mind of its own and was desperately trying to turn me inside-out. I was afraid it wouldn't stop. I couldn't get a breath in edgewise with all the nonstop heaving and gagging so I forced myself to calm down and get a few exasperated gasps in before repeating the process all over again.

After a good 10 minutes of it all, I went back to my car to grab a bottle of water and a tissue from the glove compartment. I cleaned my mouth and tried to rinse out the rancid aftertaste of acidic stomach enzymes and glutton-free waffles as best I could, then drank the rest of the water. I knew I had to get some fluids and solids into my system eventually but at that point, I didn't think I'd be able to down much of anything besides water. 

I could hear Steve calling for me from the entrance but there was no way in hell I was gonna try running again. I just kept walking and eventually met with him on line. We handed in our tickets and we were on our way inside in no time.

"Hey Tony, what happened to you? You look a little pale. Are you sure you're alright? We can go back home if you want. We can come back another time." He pressed the back of his hand to my forehead and I quickly slapped it away before people could get a chance to stare.

"No... I'm fine. It's just... Hot..." I lied through my teeth like I always did. I don't know why I kept the truth from Steve so often. He was always so open and honest and some part of me deep down was jealous of him for being so trusting and understanding. He could sense the good in people, even if it wasn't there and I hated him for that. Why couldn't he see that people are what they are and will use him for that innocence and leave him broken, scarred and damaged beyond repair? I didn't want him to end up like me...

"Well, tell me as soon as you're feeling faint... I don't want you to pass out or something." He gave me a concerned look and then took my wrist as he lead me to get a park map. "Hmm... What should we go on first? Any suggestions? How about Goliath? Or Scream? Or Superman? Which one sounds better?"

"Yes..." I was barely listening to be honest. I zoned back out and and I could hear Steve sigh.

"Come on Tony. At least PRETEND like you plan on having fun today. You look like Kristen Stewart with that frown on your face." In my slight shock of him knowing who the hell she even WAS, he grabbed my shoulder hard and shook me a bit, making me lose my balance. "Can you at least look me in the eyes? Please? I know you'll have fun if you'll at least try to apply yourself!"

I stepped back, looked up at him and rolled my eyes. Again with the damn positivity... "Ok Steve. How about you go do whatever you like, and I'll follow you around. Sound good?" He shrugged one shoulder before looking off in the direction of Hurricane Harbor. 

"Do you wanna go to the water park first? You said you were hot so..." He trailed off as he looked back at me. I just shrugged my shoulders and walked in the general direction of the water park. 

"Whatever."

~****~

He came out of the changing rooms in swim trunks and nothing else. His hairless body gleamed heroically in the sun but he still managed to keep an innocent and modest air about him, despite his intimidating figure. God damn this old man.

"Hey Tony... I'm done. Is... Is this appropriate for the pool? It seems a bit... Revealing." He tried to pull up his boxers and use the park-offered towels to cover the rest of his legs. I stood up from the bench I occupied and quickly snatched the towel from him.

"Stop that! You sound like a fucking girl. You're fine. You're perfect. You're in a new century that's been warmed by constant pollution and hot breath. You NEED to reveal more or your balls will melt off." I stifled a snort as Steve's hands instinctively covered his balls.

"Shut the hell up Tony." He moved his hands away from his crotch and looked at the sky to hide his embarrassment.

"Well... They won't EXACTLY melt off. I was just joking. Yeesh. Now let's get out of here, I see a lot of girls staring at you and it pisses me off." He smirked at me and purposely stretched so that anyone behind him could see his rippling back muscles and rolling shoulder blades. I heard some girls giggle and mumble in the background and I punched Steve in the chest, only to have searing pain shoot up my arm straight into my brain and Steve laughing hard.

"What's the rush Stark? Relax a little. Stretch with me. You don't wanna pull something in the water and embarrass yourself." He was doing this to piss me off now. I guess in some sense I deserved it. But I wasn't happy about it. "You look nice too by the way. Don't just think they're just staring at me." 

"No, I KNOW they're staring at you. I can see the carnal gaze in their eyes. They're undressing you and eating you up in their minds." I bit my knuckle and glared at the girls behind Steve. He just chuckled and put a hand on my head.

"I don't think they're doing all tha-" And this is where I snapped. I overheard(well, more like heard. Everybody did since she was talking so damn loud...) this girl talk about his amazingly round ass and inquire about how big his dick was. I, LOST, it. I whipped around him so fast it left me seeing colors and spots.

"OIY! I CAN HEAR YOU UNCULTURED HUSSIES! FUCK OFF, THIS GUY IS MI-HEY!!" Steve lifted me over his shoulder in one swift movement and I was left in a pitiful position with my legs dangling over his chest and my head drifting precariously over the square of his back. I felt the heat rise in his neck and ears and it momentarily stopped me from cursing everyone out until I was blue in the face. I ignored the phone flashes and giggles for a minute to enjoy not having to walk and being carried by the man I loved.

He dropped our towels and clothes on a lounge chair but didn't put me down yet. "Uhh... You gonna put me done 'er what?"

"Yea. Eventually. Don't worry about it, kay?" Nope. I didn't like this. I was starting to feel nauseous again from being bent at a 20° angle and his shoulder was digging hard into my crotch right about now. I felt like my balls would go purple from lack of blood circulation if he didn't put me down soon. That or I'd get a boner. Either one would prove to be a problem.

I sighed and tried to focus on not making a fool of myself and throwing up all over the place, when I realized we were over water. Were we in the wave pool? No... He wouldn't... 

1 foot. We were getting dangerously deep. It was up to his ankles and I was getting nervous.

2 feet. It was fucking up to the middle of his calves. My fingertips just barely grazed it as they dangled helplessly. 

"H-hey... What are you thinking?"

3 feet. He didn't answer me, but I could feel his back shudder with laughter. He could sense the nervousness in my voice and he relished that. He trudged on, a little slower because of the water, but trudged on nonetheless.

5 feet. I was forced to sit up as much as I could, lest I drown and I was saying my Hail Mary's, repenting for my sins; anything to coax the higher god I didn't believe in into stopping Steve from doing whatever the hell he was about to do. I'm not a tall man. Not as tall as Steve. I panic in water when I can't touch the floor. Reminds me too much of the floor-less wormhole I flew into in New York all those moons ago. But how would he know? I always kept these things from him. Typical past me coming back to bite the future me in the ass.

Shit. This was definitely the end. I looked frantically from side to side for something to grab on to but Steve was smarter than he looked. He walked directly in the middle so the walls were way to far to even hope to latch on to. Maybe if I pleaded with Steve, he'd stop. Worth a try, right?

"Steve... Honey? D-did I make you mad? Please don't do this to me. I love you so much, you're the world to me. There's still so many things I haven't done yet!" He lifted me up from under my arms and I dangled helplessly over the water. My knees were submerged and I stared into the warm abyss that I dearly wanted to escape. My vision flicked from Steve to the water faster than my brain could register what I was looking at, at that given time.

"Aww. Don't be like that Tony. We're just cooling off and having fun right?" I fucking felt it. He pretended to drop me for a split second but then grabbed me quickly. The water splashed and I was starting to go pale.

"No... No no no Steve you don't understand." I shook my head frantically. "Don't do this to me. Just... Please walk me back to where I can stand comfortably." I was hyperventilating. I could feel my heart jumping out of my chest and I stared down into Steve's cold, soulless blue eyes. His expression never changed as he slowly set me down into the water. Knees. Thighs. Waist. "PLEASE, I'M SO SERIOUS RIGHT NOW!" I was now eye-level with Steve and I was more than half submerged in my fear.

"What's the big deal, Tony? It's just water. I've seen you swim in pools before. And to be honest, you deserve this for embarrassing me in front of everyone like that." So that's what this was all about. Fuck you.

"Fuck you Steve. FUCK YOU! PUT ME BACK ON LAND!!!" He just snorted and let go. All in one split second my heart dropped, my eyes widened, and all my trust in Steve was thrown out the proverbial window. Now, I'm not being melodramatic about the water experience or anything, but deep water was kinda one of my triggers. Grant it, he didn't know at the time but still. I was clearly having a panic attack. 

Water engulfed me and I couldn't see. My body was still in shock and trying to breathe in as water filled my lungs and they burned. How long was I in the water anyway? It felt like hours. I frantically reached out for something to grab until I felt someone's arm pull me up. I dug and clawed my fingers into their skin to make sure I wasn't dropped again but my eyes refused to open. I can't face it again. I refuse to see that empty abyss of space once more.

"... Ny!!" My ears were clogged. Who was making that noise? I was disoriented and confused. "... Ony!!!" More urgent this time. They sounded kind of familiar. Were they trying to call to me? "TONY! SNAP OUT OF IT!" Steve. My eyes shot open and I instantly regretted it since they started burning like lemons had been squeezed into them. All I could see was Steve holding me like a newly wed bride and concern was clear across his face. He shook me a bit and I opened my mouth but water came out instead of words. I continued to cough until I was sure my lungs would come up with it. "Tony are you alright!? I-I'm so sorry. Oh my god this is all my fault. You nearly drowned because I didn't pay attention to you trying to stop me. God I'm so stupid... Obviously there was a reason to why you were thrashing about. I'm so sorry Tony."

I just looked at him blankly because I obviously didn't have any energy left to-eh? Something was falling on my face. Rain? Warm rain? No, he was crying. Sobbing in fact. I was alive, so why the hell was he crying so hard? Could he not see that I was still with him? My arms were heavy like lead but I still managed to wipe the tears from his cheeks. My arm was a sickly pale color and I was pretty sure the rest of me looked the same.

"I'm.... I'm ok..." My voice was hoarse from the chemicals being forced down my esophagus and I feigned a shaky, blue-lipped smile for Steve's sake. I wasn't ok actually. I just said that because sometimes it's easier to say you're ok than that you're not.

He took my hand against his face and looked at me with a sad smile. Tears still streamed down his face but his breathing went from shuddering sobs to heavy, yet even breaths. 

"I'm so glad... I knew something was wrong when I saw you sinking. I didn't want to attract the attention of the lifeguards but maybe I should have..." His hand was so warm against mine and it just made me think about how much I'd miss it if I were really gone...

"It's fine just... Take me to land. Please" I didn't have to say it twice before Steve was already walking us back to our lounge chair. He laid me down gently and wrapped his towel around me.

~Awkward silence~

"Tony... I-I just wanna say that-" I cut him off with a quick kiss. I should've remembered where we were.

"Forget it. I'm alive, you're alive," I sighed. "And that's all that matters. Right?"


	5. Steve: Chapter 4

"Right..." 

Guilt ripped through my chest and it killed me that he was being so uncharacteristically benign about it. I nearly KILLED him! Hit me, punch me, say that you hate me. Give me closure, please... Sometimes it's worse when you pretend everything is ok when it really isn't.

"Well, I don't know about you Steve, but I kinda wanna get on some rides right about now. You can't drown on those right?" He sat up in the chair and shook the water out of his hair, but quickly stopped. It looked like he had a headache, which was expected since he just got a lung-full of water.

After a couple minutes of recovery, we spent the whole rest of the day going on rides, and taking pictures of each other. It took a lot of energy to get Tony to smile in the pictures(especially since it pissed him off that I didn't know how to use my cellular camera) but he complied in the end. The sun began to set and gave off a beautiful blood-orange color that ignited the sky in a lighter orange and the clouds in a rosy pink.

"Hey Tony, wanna try a strength game?" I had my arm looped around his and pointed to a side attraction. 

"I kinda want some funnel cake right about now actually. I'm hungry and thirsty as hell from nearly dying so, let's go get some. And besides, gorilla-like strength is more of your forte than mine." He yanked me towards the food.

"But... But Tonyyyyyyyyy!" I persisted. I let go of his arm and looked towards the attraction. "I... I think I'm gonna do it."

He just glowered at me and folded his arms. "Fine. Go. But I'm getting the fucking funnel cake." I knew he was just pouty and irritable because he was hungry so I nodded.

"Alright." I jogged over to the attraction.

"WHAT!?" I heard him calling after me. "YOU'RE JUST GONNA LEAVE ME!?"

"PRETTY MUCH!" I called back.

"F-FINE! I'LL EAT ALL THE FUNNEL CAKE MYSELF AND I WON'T GIVE YOU ANY!"

I just chuckled and left him to his pouting. I waited in line behind a group of small kids as they each tried to hit the target hard enough with a padded mallet to hit the bell on top. Each one tried and failed and I felt a twinge of sadness for them. They all looked so dejected and crestfallen.

"Next!" I walked up to the attraction and took up the mallet. "You know the rules, yes? Hit the bell, win any prize ya want." I nodded and gripped the mallet a little too hard. I slammed it down and the bell rang loud across the park, signaling that I won. The kids turned around and watched in awe as I set the mallet down. I smiled at them, walked over and kneeled down to their height.

"Which one do you guys want? Pick any prize." Smiles, too big for their faces stretched from ear to ear as they discussed amongst themselves which one they wanted. They eventually decided on a stuffed rabbit and I had the man take it down for them. "Here you go." I handed it to them and they looked eternally grateful.

"THANK YOU MR!"

"Oh, please. Call me Steve if you like. Enjoy the stuffed animal." I smiled warmly and got up to walk away when they all ganged up on me and jumped on my back or pulled at my legs.

"NO," They all yelled in unison. "HELP US WIN MORE PRIZES!!" One of them yanked the back of my shirt while another pulled at my hair. I sighed and shrugged. Tony was probably still on line for food and we weren't going anywhere so, why not. I followed the kids around to win them prizes. Eventually I learned their names; 3 boys and 2 girls but they said their other 2 friends were waiting to get on a ride. Katherine, America, David, Thomas, and William. Great kids, really. Just a little rambunctious and dysfunctional. I won them each a prize or two until they all grew tired of the easy wins and left to go on more rides. They each said goodbye and thank you and I watched them leave. God I loved kids. I wished I had some of my own...

I turned to head back to Tony when I saw a grand prize for a basketball game. A giant stuffed teddybear for anyone who can consecutively make 30 shots. Easy. 

"Ah, excuse me. Can I play this game for that big bear?" The lady looked at me and smiled.

"Sure. You're cute ya know?" 

"R-really?" I blushed a bit and rubbed the back of my head. She handed me a ball and I looked at her confused. "I... Thought I had to pay for this game?"

"I'm giving this round to you for free. Don't screw up ok?"

I smiled and nodded. "Thank you so much. You're very kind."

Her cheeks went pink for a second and she looked away. "Yea yea. Don't mention it. Especially not to my manager. 30 shots ok? Then you get the bear." 

She tossed me basketball after basketball and I just kept sinking shots. I was never good at sports pre-serum but now, I was a BEAST. I would have that bear for Tony in no time at all. Shot after shot, they went in with a swish and I silently counted in my head.

26\. I've got this in the bag.

27\. I hope Tony isn't still mad at me from earlier today...

28\. Whoa, that was a close shot. It danced around the rim. I better focus.

29\. Swish.

30\. "You win the grand prize sir!"

"I-I won!?" She handed me the big bear along with a slip of paper. "What's this?"

"My number. Call me, kay?" She winked and I walked off sheepishly with my prize. Once I was out of her view, I tossed the paper away and rushed back to Tony. I couldn't contain my excitement and it was clearly visible in the smile on my face.

"TONY!" I saw him tapping away on his phone, sitting at a table under the shade with a half-eaten plate of funnel cake. Upon hearing his name, he put his phone away and looked up to see me half blotted out by the enormous toy. He got up slowly as if trying to comprehend the situation.

"What the fuck is that?"

"Are you still mad at me? I won this for you." I thrust the toy into his arms and he was immediately blocked out by the toy as well.

". . . This thing is huge Steve."

"Do you forgive me?"

"Is this why you left me?"

"Initially. I planned on winning something for you, but then this nice group of kids side-tracked me. They were so cute. I wish we had kids." He stayed quiet at this and the action was so minute that I almost questioned whether I saw it or not but he squeezed the bear a little tighter at what I said.

"Oh..." He put the bear to the side and we both sat down. "Here. I'm not angry anymore..." He pushed the plate towards me and I could see his face was red from blushing.

"I just think you're not hungry anymore." I dug into the cake anyways. "And why are you blushing so hard? It's not like you."

"1-800-DID-I-ASK called, they want your irrelevant opinion back." I just chuckled hard and smiled as the funnel cake disappeared little by little.


	6. Tony: Chapter 5

For the most part, the ride home was quiet. Not that I minded or anything since today wasn't exactly ideal. On top of him almost KILLING me, Steve left me for a group of snot-nosed brats. I glanced over at him shifting uncomfortably in his seat and I could tell this awkward silence was getting to him.

"Hey Steve, when we get home let's have sex." I swear to god I could almost FEEL the heat rising in his face, myself. I glanced over at him and he was red all the way down to his neck and all the way up to his ears.

"You mean like... Fondue?"

"What the hell? Why do you always call it that." I squinted through my shades and focused on getting home. I just wanted to drown myself in his scent and forget today.

We were caught in a bit of traffic on the highway but for the most part it was alright once we got off the main roads and on to the residential streets. Once we got home I parked my car in the garage and got out. Steve lifted the big ass bear out of the back seat and went inside ahead of me.

"I'm gonna put this away and then jump in the shower alright?"

"Alright Steve. I'm gonna... I'll be up in a minute." I stuck around in my garage for a while longer, thinking about everything, and then nothing.

"Sir? Are you alright?" Jarvis. What the hell did he want.

"Fine. Just thinking about whether I should shoot myself before the cancer spreads any further." I said sarcastically. 

"That would be unwise." No shit Sherlock.

"I was being sarcastic-you know what, I'm not dealing with your bullshit right now. I plan on getting laid today and I don't want you popping into my head and making me go flaccid." I locked the basement door when I left and the rest was a blur. I remember taking a shower but not hearing the water and I remember drying off but not feeling my arms and legs moving. Almost as if my senses were detached... Maybe it was just the shock from the fact of me having cancer, hitting me across the face. I just numbly walked to my room to see Steve sitting on the edge of the bed wrapped in a white towel; his hair still damp from his shower and little drops of water on his chest glistened in the dim light.

"Tony? Do you still plan on... Going through with this?" Steve mumbled. His face was red again and he was avoiding eye contact with me. 

"Yea of course I do. Why do you look all sheepish? We've done this before you know. Jarvis, close the blinds." Jarvis complied without a word for once. Must be the apocalypse. 

"Yea but every time you mention it, I think about how good it felt and I-I just..." I didn't even think it was possible but his face got even redder. I just tried to stay calm and seductive. Easy.

"Heh... You're so cute Steve." I made my way over to him and his eyes flickered from me to my bare crotch. Guess I forgot to wrap a towel around my waist. Oh well. Wouldn't need it anyways. I took him by the chin so he looked up at me and I leaned in to kiss him. Warm, soft, greedy. Multiple kisses left him craving more while each one was more needy and hungry than the last. I wanted to consume him and shield him from the world so that he was only mine to taint and mine alone.

I slipped my tongue into his mouth and relished in the shocked moan he let out as our tongues battled for dominance. As I pulled back, I bit on his lip teasingly before going back in again and repeating the process.

"T-Tony..." Steve gasped in between each kiss. "Tony I'm..." He trailed off and I glanced down at the tent forming under his towel.

"Damn it Steve, all I did was kiss you. You must really want this." I kissed softly down his chest and down his stomach until I came to the hem of his towel. He fumbled with taking it off and I saw that his hands were shaking. He haphazardly tossed the towel aside and placed his hands behind him so that he was leaning back comfortably. "Wow... No matter how many times I see you while your up, I just can't believe how big it is. When I see my dad in hell, I'll be sure to thank him for the wonder serum he gave you." I stifled a grin as Steve looked away out of embarrassment.

"Well since today is still our anniversary Stevie, I'm gonna spice up our sex for today and do something I don't normally do." I took hold of his dick and held it close to my face. His scent. It was intoxicating and just made me want more. It was dull, yet warm and comforting like the smell of clean linen. I took the tip into my mouth and sucked on it teasingly. I just barely heard Steve make a sharp inhale so I slowly licked up and down his shaft. All the while my eyes never left his. I took more of his dick into my mouth and when I was halfway down his length, I realized that I wouldn't be able to fit it all in my mouth. I'd probably choke if I fit anymore but he still looked like he was enjoying himself anyways. He kept a firm hand on my head and he held a handful of my hair in his fist. He was slowly pushing me down on his dick and I ended up deep throating him as he groaned in ecstasy.

"Ah... Tony it's... It's so good..." It took a while; like, a LONG while, but eventually his grip on my hair tightened and he visually tensed up. "Tony I'm gonna-" He came in my mouth and at first, I didn't know what to do. The salty, bitter liquid hit my cheek and the back of my throat so instinctively, I let his cock go and sat up quickly. "Oh god... I'm so sorry Tony. Spit it out-" Wait what? It was already too late by the time he mentioned spitting his spunk out; I had already swallowed it all.

"It's fine Steve." I coughed out as seductively as I possibly could. I stood up while wiping the corner of my mouth and glanced down at his cock, which was still hard and throbbing. "Oh? What's this? A blow job wasn't enough for you?" I teased as I stroked the head of his cock. 

He looked at me with the world's most sexiest face. It was so fucking hot the way he bit his lip and looked at me with half opened eyes. "I... I really wanna put it in now..." I damn near lost it right then and there. Gotta keep cool like a cucumber. Wait, what?

"Alright Steve." I laid down on the bed with my ass in the air and my face on the pillow. "I'm all yours." Never have I heard Steve get up so quickly before in my life. He rummaged through the nightstand drawer before flipping the cap off of a tube of lubricant and coating his fingers in it. He placed one hand on my waist and the other-the one coated in lube, was used to loosen me up. "Unn..." I moaned into the pillow and gripped the sheets as he stuck another finger in me. The cold substance made me shudder and at first it was uncomfortable until he kept working it in. My knees almost turned to jelly and it took all my strength to keep my hips up.

"Wow... You're reacting to this a lot-" He scissored his fingers and then curled them up and I let out a loud yelp. He hit my prostate hard and my hips moved against his fingers as it was seeking for more friction. 

"GodDAMNIT that felt good." He just kept hitting my good spot with his fingers and I continued to groan.

"Guess I found it. God Tony you're really loosening up." He just kept moving his fingers in and out and curling them in just the right spot to leave me writhing and gasping for air. My jaw trembled and I clenched my teeth together to keep them from clacking under the waves of pure delight that shot through my stomach and strait to my head.

"Can I... Can I put it in now? I'm getting really anxious."

"Do... Do what you want..." I could barely form the right words as he took his fingers out slowly and my body shuddered slightly. I felt empty without some part of him inside me and I had to reassure myself that it wouldn't be long before he was inside me again. He flipped me onto my back with such force that it caught me a little off guard. He hovered over me and looked me dead in the eyes.

"I want to see your face when we do this. Every expression, gasp, moan, I want to see it all." I looked away as my face went red but he grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him again. "Don't hide from me. Please be more open, ok?" Before I could even get a word in to protest he was already filling me up. My back arched at the sudden feeling of him inside me and my mouth opened in a silent scream. He leaned in and kissed my Adam's Apple gently. "It's alright. Let it out. I want to hear it." He just kept filling me up and filling me up until I was sure he would hit my stomach. 

"S-Steve..." It came out as little more than a hoarse whisper. I groped the air like a child and wrapped my arms around him tight while I clenched my eyes shut. I was seeing stars and tears were brimming in the corners of my eyes. My nails dug into his back as I tried to get used to the pain. No matter how many times we did it, he'd always leave me gasping like a virgin.

"It's alright," He said calmly, despite the blood that was definitely running down his back from the scratches I gave him. His voice was firm yet reassuring. "I won't move yet. I'll wait for you to get used to it first, ok?" He stroked my hair softly as if coddling a child. It did make me feel a little at ease, but it took a while for me to relax my muscles. After I was sure we could continue, I wrapped my legs around his back to pull him closer and signal that I was ready for him to move.

Every thrust was pure, fucking, MAGIC; hard against my prostate, he left me a twitching, shuddering mess underneath him. He sure did know all my weak spots, didn't he? I bit my lip and moaned Steve's name. He nuzzled next to my ear and whispered sweet-nothings to me in a low tone. He grabbed hold of my dick at the same time and kissed along my neck and collarbone. When he jerked me off I was in heaven and I leaned my head back in ecstasy. I covered my mouth as I moaned loud enough for Steve to hear.

"Fuck... Steve it's so good..." He just moved a little further down my chest and bit my nipple. I yelped out at the sudden pain from my chest and my reaction made him chuckle. "GAH! OUCH!" 

"I said I wanna hear all of you. I wanna memorize every sound you make by heart. To the point where I'm hearing your moans in my sleep. Everything that happened today reminded me that no day is promised to us. One day I'm with the man I love and the next, he or I could be gone." 

"What the fuck Steve-OUCH!" He fucking BIT me! TWICE! "ALRIGHT ALRIGHT!" The heat rose in my cheeks as I blushed. "I-I won't hide my voice..."

"Good." He licked my nipple seductively and sucked on them just hard enough for it to still feel good, all while he fisted me at a steady rhythm and rubbed against my g-spot with his cock. I don't remember how long we did this until my lower half started to get hot.

"Damn... So close... I'm so close..." 

"Me too... I'm going to lose it soon..." He sped up a little but kept the rhythm steady. We both groaned as we climaxed at the same time. I felt a stream of liquid heat rush through me and fill my insides. I clutched the sheets until my knuckles went white and clenched my teeth as my own liquid heat came rushing out of me. 

Steve pulled out slowly and laid down next to me. Sweat glistened on his chest and he gave me a cheeky smile. What the hell was his deal?

"Hey Tony... That... That felt good..."

"Sure it did Steve. Especially since you came your weight in sperm up my ASS. God... Now I won't be able to walk for a month. I'm gonna be so sore in the morning..." Steve just wrapped his arms around me and lazily kissed my neck.

"Love you too, honey. Goodnight." He yawned once and was out like a light within the next 5 minutes.

"'Honey'? Wait, what the fuck?" I looked down at him sleeping with his face tucked under my neck. He was so damn adorable when he slept... Wait a minute... "Steve, are you asleep? Steve get up. Your heavy. I'm serious Steve! We gotta clean up this mess. Get up and move! I'm sticky and I feel gross. Steve I know you can hear me! My arm is already feeling numb and I'm in an uncomfortable position. STEVE!"


	7. Steve: Chapter 6

I woke up alone the next day. 

I was used to it by now since more often than not, Tony was in his garage working on new machines but today, I kind of felt a little lonely. I missed stretching out in bed and feeling another arm or what have you. I sat up in bed, wrapped in silver silk sheets and I looked around the semi-dark room. The blinds were closed and sunlight tried to fight its way through the cracks to aid my eyesight. I glanced at the luminescent digital clock only to see that it was 2:32 in the afternoon. I had been asleep for a really long time.

"J-Jarvis?"

"Yes Mr. Rogers?"

"Could you... Open the blinds please? Just a little though." Almost immediately the blinds opened next to me and I nearly had a heart attack. It wasn't overly bright outside but since there was an overcast, the sun's light reflected off the clouds and hurt my eyes. It took me a while to get used to the sudden brightness but I eventually did and decided to look for Tony.

"Mr. Stark has left a message with me to relay to you. Do you care to hear it?" Tony left me a message? Why would he bother; he was in the basement right?

"Umm, sure I guess." Jarvis played back the audio message and it was in Tony's voice.

"Uhh, hey Steve. If you're hearing this, that means that I'm still out and about. I had a doctor's appointment early in the morning so I didn't wanna wake you or anything. Take a shower by the time I come back and dress presentable; I'm coming home with a present for you." The message ended abruptly and that was the last of that.

"Take a shower?" I mumbled under my breath. What present was he bringing home that required a bath? Present or not though, I needed to bathe and the sheets needed a good scrubbing too. I took them off the bed and sent them down the laundry chute, then made my way to the bathroom in the bedroom.

A strong, chemical smell pierced the insides of my nostrils as I stepped in through the door. Out of reflex I covered my nose and stepped back. It was almost like the whole bathroom had been doused in at LEAST three bottles of ammonia.

"Oh my GOD! What the hell HAPPENED here!?" My nose was on fire and I just couldn't stand to be in this bathroom any longer then I needed to. I turned on the ventilation fan, closed the door, and walked to a different bathroom that DIDN'T make me feel like I was going to pass out.

I took a quick shower and dressed in one of my favorite outfits that Tony kept in a closet just for me. The racks in the closet automatically moved around like at the dry cleaners until I found the outfit I liked. I'm not complaining or anything, but an old fashioned walk-in closet is just as good as a conveyer belt one. I just picked out my blue plaid shirt and khaki jeans.

After I was clean and conservatively dressed, I waited patiently for Tony to come back home by sitting on the couch and catching up on about 65 years worth of television. I flipped through show after show using Jarvis as a voice-activated remote to watch shows like, 'Big Bang Theory' and 'Family Guy'. I liked the shows a lot but it kinda went over my head since I didn't understand most of the references. After about an hour or two, I heard the phone ring and I asked Jarvis to answer it for me.

"Hey Steve, you dressed? It's me Tony. Come open the front door and check out your surprise."

"Umm... Ok." Jarvis hung up for me and I walked to the front door. I really wanted to know what surprise he could have gotten me. I unlocked the front door and there stood Tony with... A child on his shoulder? "Uhh..." 

"Surprise!" He gestured to the little boy clinging to his head for support. "This is your present! Here take him. He's heavy as hell and he's got like 50 bags in the trunk." He handed me the boy and I held him in the fold of my arm.

"W-WAIT TONY!" Why didn't he tell me he adopted a child!?!? I just looked at the boy in my arms and focused on him. He was probably scared and uncomfortable from such a scenery swap. Boy could I relate... "Hey there little buddy. What's your name?" H-how the hell was I supposed to deal with a child!?

"Umm... Peter. Peter Parker." He had big brown eyes, fair skin and brown hair. Wait.... Was that a Christmas bow on his head? I took it out as gently as I could and sat with him on the couch. 

"So, Peter; can I call you Pete?" He nodded fast. "Ok. How old are you?"

"Umm... 7 but I'm turning 8 next year on August 15th!" A bright smile spread from ear to ear on his face and at that moment, my heart was his.

"O-oh! That's great Pete! We'll be sure to throw you a HUGE birthday party-" I could hear Tony snicker in the background and I sighed.

"Hey Steve, don't make promises you don't intend to keep. You're not exactly Mr. Bucks-a-plenty are ya?"

"Well YOU are and since we're engaged, what's mine is yours and what's yours is mine so in a way, I AM Mr. Bucks-a-plenty." That shut him up. I could hear him grumbling quietly while he went upstairs to put away Peter's things.

"So Peter, do you have any friends at your school that you want to invite?" He shook his head no and I saw the smile slowly fade from his face.

"I don't have friends... Nobody likes me..."

"Aww... Cheer up buddy. Me and your new daddy like you." 

"Yea but... I want friends my age that'll talk to me and won't laugh at me..." I heard a soft sniffle and he brought his hand up to wipe his face. My resilience was fading fast and I couldn't help but pull him into a comforting embrace. His chest heaved violently with each sob and I could feel warm tears hit my chest through my shirt. I just pulled him as close as I could without hurting him.

I gently rocked him back and forth and rubbed his hair softly. I held him like this for a long time until his breathing evened out and he started to sit up. I let him go and gave him a sympathetic look. It may have been a long time ago, but I remember what it was like to have next to no friends and be bullied all the time. God do I hate bullies.

"You ok now bud?" He nodded slowly and wiped the tears off his red cheeks. It killed me to see ANYONE upset, let alone a child I was quickly growing fond of.

"Yea... I just have a bit of a headache now... And I'm kinda hungry." I just smiled and sat up.

"Well, do you want some ice cream to cool down?" He looked up at me with his wide eyes and nodded.

"Yea!" He got off of the couch and I walked him to the kitchen, hand in hand.

"Hmmm..." I opened the freezer and peered inside. "What type of ice cream do you like?"

"Strawberry!!!!" He was jumping up and down, trying to look into the freezer as I took out a container of Metropolitan ice cream. I set it down on the counter and grabbed two mugs and two spoons.

"Whoa! Watch out buddy. Don't wanna step on you." Peter was running in and out of my legs and following behind me closely. God forbid I accidentally sit on this kid. 

I scooped a decent amount of strawberry ice cream and put it in the mug for Peter. As I handed it to him, he thanked me and immediately dug into it. I smiled and scooped some old fashioned vanilla ice cream into a mug for me and helped Peter into a high barstool so he could look me in the eye while still being next to me.

"How is it?"

"Yummy!!" Not even 2 seconds passed before he had melted ice cream all over his face. I chuckled and went to clean it off when Tony walked in to the kitchen and opened the cupboard.

"Not gonna offer any to me? I see how it is. You two form your own secret alliance and leave me on the outskirts. I got it." I just playfully shoved him aside as he got a mug of his own, scooped some chocolate ice cream into it and stood on the other side of Peter. "So Pete, do you like it here?

"Yea! You're house is HUGE!" He made big gestures with his arms and swung his feet. Tony just smiled and looked into his mug.

"That's good. Kinda reminds you of that movie Annie right?" 

"What?" Peter looked at him quizzically and Tony's mouth dropped.

"You don't know the movie Annie!? What are they teaching you nowadays? Steve, come on. You know right?" Uhh...

"I uhh... I know the comic strip... That came out when I was about 6 but the movie... I must've been frozen still." Peter looked at me quizzically.

"Frozen?"

"It's a long story," Tony interjected before I could respond. "We'll tell you about it later. Preferably after we watch Annie."

I just smiled and ate the rest of my ice cream while Tony and Peter talked and laughed. It took a while, but I finally felt like I fit in in this century, and I finally had a family to call my own.


	8. Tony: Chapter 7

I remember coming back downstairs after putting the last of the bags in Peter's room when I heard soft crying. I had been watching Steve hold Peter in a tight embrace for about an hour until Peter finally moved away. It kind of brought morbid thoughts to mind when I saw just the two of them sitting alone on the couch. Is this what it would look like if I died from this cancer rapidly consuming me? I went to the hospital earlier that morning to get a CT scan and find out what I could do to get rid of the infected cells. Surgery, drugs, chemo, anything. Along with a one hour lecture, they gave me two options that had the best percentage of having me walk out with all of my limbs in tact. I could either A.) take these wonder drugs that had only a 1 in a million chance of working, or B.) I could do chemotherapy and loose all of my hair. And there was still a chance that it wouldn't work, even if that chance was next to none. I chose the former in hopes that I would have more of a chance of spending time with Steve and Peter. And besides, I like my hair the way it is.

I snapped out of my daze long enough to see that Steve and Peter had disappeared from the couch. I looked around frantically until I heard some glasses clinking in the kitchen and I assumed they were getting something to eat. I followed them only to see that they were eating my god damn ice cream without my consent.

"Not gonna offer any to me? I see how it is. You two form your own secret alliance and leave me on the outskirts. I got it." Steve just shoved me aside and I smiled as I scooped some chocolate ice cream into a mug of my own. "So Pete, do you like it here?

"Yea! You're house is HUGE!" The kid was freakin' adorable. He waved his arms and swung his legs to emphasize the size of my house.

"That's good. Kinda reminds you of that movie Annie right?" 

"What?" Peter looked at me like I had 3 heads. How the hell has this kid NOT seen Annie!? It's a fucking CLASSIC!

"You don't know the movie Annie!? What are they teaching you nowadays? Steve, come on. You know right?" I swear to god, if Steve hadn't seen it-

"I uhh... I know the comic strip... That came out when I was about 6 but the movie... I must've still been frozen." Peter looked at him quizzically.

"Frozen?"

"It's a long story," I really didn't want to get into a long-winded spiel about how both his parents were superheroes currently taking a hiatus from world problems. He had just moved in and that would be a lot for him to take in all at once. "We'll tell you about it later. Preferably after we watch Annie."

"Ok!" He nodded and dug into his ice cream again. I don't know how the kid possibly did this, but he did. Give the kid a fucking gold medal for getting strawberry flavored dairy product all the way up to his eyebrows.

"Uhh... Is your forehead cold?" I said nonchalantly while glancing between him and my half empty mug of ice cream.

"Hunh? No, why?" He tried to look at his forehead which only made him look angry. I couldn't keep it in any longer so I just let it out. I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard at something so small, but it felt good. It felt good to laugh and forget things that make you worry and make you upset. Geez... We had this kid not even a day yet and he was already breaking through my defenses; cruising through them as if they weren't even there. He reminded me so much of Steve with that stupid child-like innocence that makes me want to protect him.

"Because you've got ice cream all in your eyebrows. You look like this." I took some ice cream on my finger and smeared it on my face to show him what he looked like. He just laughed hard and pointed at my face.

"HAHAHA! THAT'S NOT WHAT I LOOK LIKE!" He was rolling hard as if I told the world's funniest joke.

"Oh yea? I'm pretty sure that's what you look like. Wait, how do you even know what you look like? You don't even have a mirror." He just laughed harder until his face went red. He held his stomach and tried to calm down but every time he looked back up at me he went into another fit of laughter. "Hey! Quit laughing at me! If you wanna laugh, laugh at yourself since this is what you look like." 

I glanced over at Steve who was absentmindedly stirring his spoon around in his ice cream. A stupidly sentimental smile plastered his face as he stared at nothing. What the hell was this big lug thinking about now?

"Hey Steve, wake up."

"Hmm?" He snapped out of his daze only to see me and Peter staring back at him. His eyes grew wide as he saw what was coating me and Peter's faces. "W-what happened to your face Tony!?!?"

"We're twins Steve." I squeezed Peter's shoulders and he looked up at me with a big cheeky grin and I instantly knew what he was thinking. I could get used to this kid. We both got close to Steve and kissed either side of his cheek.

"GYAAH! COLD! THAT'S DISGUSTING YOU TWO!!" Me and Peter just rubbed our faces on his like he was a napkin and laughed maniacally. "EW EW EW! STOP!! OK OK I GIVE! COME ON I JUST TOOK A SHOWER LIKE 4 HOURS AGO!" After Steve had stopped flailing, me and Pete eased up and looked back at our master piece. I held my chin and evaluated our work.

"Hmm... Looks good Pete. We did a good job." He held his chin too and nodded.

"Yea. Looks like a piece of art!" Peter exclaimed as Steve just glared at the both of us and went to get a wet paper towel.

"Ha ha. So funny you two. Ugh... Now I feel all sticky and gross." He wiped the ice cream off his face with one side and carefully wiped Peter's face with the other.

"What? You're not gonna clean me off too? How rude..." I jested.

"Oh please Tony. You're a grown man who can clean his own face." I just sat there and pouted until he gave up and sighed. "Fine Tony. God, sometimes you're such a baby." He got another wet paper towel and wiped my face softly. "There. Now you're clean."

"Thanks babe." I gave him a quick peck on the lips and lifted Peter up and put him on my shoulders. "Alright. I'm going to show the both of you the movie Annie and I want NO objections. You two will love it, worship it, and find no other movie quite as moving or interesting." I carried Pete over to the living room and sat him down on the couch. Steve followed with his arms crossed and he shook his head.

"Now, I may not have completely caught up on my list of things I missed but I'm sure this movie isn't all that-" I whipped my head around so fast that it startled him.

"Steve. When have you ever seen me so enthusiastic about anything other than you or Pete?" That shut him up. He quietly sat down on the couch and I plopped down next to him. "Jarvis? Put on Annie."

"Yes sir."

"Whoa! What was that?" Peter looked around Steve's unnecessarily huge boobs at me.

"Who, Jarvis? He's an AI Unit that I made." AIU. Like he even knew what the hell that was-

"Kinda like Siri right? He answers back to you and controls anything electronic?"

"Ah.... Yea... He's like, 3,000 times smarter and faster than Siri, but that was actually a pretty decent comparison." He looked down shyly and I saw the blush rise in his cheeks.

"T-thank you..." 

"Well, I think it's about time you two officially meet and Jarvis got to know who you are since you'll be living here from now on. Jarvis? This kid here is my little buddy Peter. Say hey to Jarvis, Pete."

"Umm, hi Jarvis!" He waved at the TV like Jarvis could see him.

"Voice recognition confirmed. Peter registered." 

"Hey Tony, how's that gonna work when he gets older and his voice changes?" Steve asked.

"Well, we'll just have to do the voice recognition again." 'We'... Would I still be around by that point to do it for him? "Anyways, let's get this show on the road. Jarvis, play the movie, dim the lights and close the blinds while your at it." The lights dimmed and the blinds closed at the same time, giving off a movie-like atmosphere.


	9. Steve: Chapter 8

The movie actually wasn't all that bad. Tony couldn't contain his emotions halfway in or something so he went down to the basement I think. Probably to build another suit or whatever. That just left me and Peter watching in silence. Towards the end I heard him starting to yawn and he was getting a bit restless so I figured we could just watch the rest the next day.

"Jarvis, pause please. Hey Pete, I think it's time for you to go to bed." I looked at the clock which read 8:45. "Yea. Let's get you to the bath and into your pajamas." He just nodded and rubbed his eye sleepily.

"I'm... Really tired..." 

"Well then, let's get you to bed quickly. Come on bud." I took his hand and lead him to a room with a post-it note on it. I guess this was Tony's way of marking where Peter would stay. 

I opened the door and flipped on the light to see a large room with a high ceiling and large windows along the far wall parallel to the door. Almost like a hotel room, there was a short hallway where his bathroom and closet were and his bed was next to the windows where the room opened up. The sheets were neatly folded back for easy get in and a nightstand with a lamp on top accompanied the right side, adding a buffer between the window and bed. Peter's bags were on the wall across from his bed, next to his dresser and a moderately sized flat screen TV was connected to the wall right above the dresser. I let go of his hand so he could go through the bag with his pajamas in it, then pointed to one of the two doors. 

"This one's the bathroom; I think. The other is the door to your closet." I opened up the door that I assumed to be the bathroom and was relieved to see I was right. "If you need anything, me and your father's bedroom is right down the hall and it's the third door on the left."

"Okay. Goodnight!" He quickly hugged me and took his pajamas into the bathroom to change.

"Goodnight. And don't forget to bathe! Your washcloth and towel should already be inside." I closed the door behind me as I walked back to Tony's room and when I opened the door, I was shocked to see Tony sitting in bed, looking down at his iPad. The soft glow from a table lamp illuminated the right side of his face. "Tony? I thought you were in the basement."

"Well, I was for a while until I wasn't, so..." He looked up at me; the glow from his device dancing across his eyes. "I came upstairs early since I figured you had a lot of questions about Peter."

"Yea actually, I do." I unbuttoned my shirt, put it away, and then started to take off my pants. "Why. How. When. Talk."

"Ok," He turned off his iPad and looked at me sleepily. He yawned once before continuing with his explanation. "I actually registered for him about a year ago but back up ya know? He was supposed to be a birthday present but he kinda came late so I made adjustments."

"But... The way he came the day after I wished for a child and the day after we had sex; it kinda seems like he's our child-"

"What the fuck Steve? Don't make it gay."

"But we ARE gay, Tony."

"Eccentric Steve. Eccentric." I gave him a piercing glare, which was hard to keep as I tried to pull my legs out of the pants without tripping over them. I eventually took them off and chucked them at his face.

"We're GAY Tony. Call it what you want but we're gay." I walked to the bathroom and I heard Tony try to throw the pants back at me but when I turned around to catch them, I saw that he completely missed and we both watched them weakly slide across the hardwood floor.

"I meant to do that." I just snorted and continued to walk into the bathroom. 

"Yea ok." Oh yea... "Hey Tony. I have another question. Earlier today, this bathroom smelled a hell of a lot like ammonia. Why was that?" He paused for a bit, as if trying to remember what I was talking about.

"Oooh. Yea about that, I kinda threw up and tried to clean it but then I spilled the bottle of cleaner cause my hand was shaking so much. I just sorta left it and hoped you wouldn't find it." 

"God damnit Tony, I told you not to swallow my-"

"No. It had nothing to do with the night before. I hadn't been feeling well for a while. That's another reason why I went to the doctor."

". . . Ah." I just headed to the sink and brushed my teeth quietly and then headed back to bed.

*~~~~*

It was still dark when I woke up to an elbow hard in the neck. I was disoriented by sleep and I got up a little too quickly. My head started to spin as my eyes adjusted to the darkness and I squinted up at Tony still sitting up against the headboard on his iPad.

"Wha..." As I shook my head clear, he pointed to the doorway where Peter was gripping the partly opened door. "Oh... Hey bud, what's wrong?" I yawned hard and stretched my arms until I was comfortable.

"I can't sleep... My room is dark and I hear noises..." He was so cute...

"Aww. Come on up here," I moved away from Tony and patted the space between us. "You can sleep here for tonight." Peter nodded and hopped into bed with me and Tony. "Hey, Tony. Put the device away and go to bed already. It's," I glanced at the clock. "2:43 in the morning." He sighed loudly, turned it off and placed it on the nightstand next to him.

"Yes, MOM." Peter giggled as Tony settled himself into bed.

"Hey umm... What's this?" Peter poked the reactor softly glowing through Tony's shirt.

"That," Tony grabbed Peter's hand and moved it away from his chest. "Is the thing that keeps me alive. It's an electromagnet. Now go to bed. It's late."

"Oh... Ok." Not even two minutes of silence passed before Pete was back at it again. "Does it hurt?" I heard Tony sigh loudly before answering the next question.

"No... Yes... Sometimes. Now go to bed."

"Oh... Ok." Here we go again. "So how does it keep you alive-"

"Listen kid. It's almost 3 in the morning and Steve is trying to sleep. I'll answer MOST of your questions in the morning." It was easy to tell he was starting to get annoyed by the tone of his voice.

"But it's morning NOW!" Pete whinned. 

"Oh my god... Fine. I see that I have to be more specific with you. In the morning, preferably after 9. Got that?" Peter stayed quiet for a while.

"Do you... Promise?" 

"Yea sure whatever."

"Pinkie promise?" I heard the sheets rustle as he moved his pinkie finger towards Tony. Tony just rolled over so his back was to Peter and me and pulled the cover around his shoulders. Even through the darkness, I could see how crestfallen Peter was after Tony turned him down.

"There's no way in hell I'm doing such a stupid kid thing." He mumbled just loud enough for Pete to hear. "It doesn't even guarantee that I owe you shi-" I kicked him hard in the leg. "OW! Fine. I'll do the bitch-ass pinkie promise." He rolled back over and held out his pinkie to an eagerly waiting Peter.

*~~~~*

When I woke up the next morning, I was somewhat used to seeing the bed empty and having it all to myself. Tony and Pete must've woken up before me and went to eat breakfast or something. I looked at the digital clock once again to see it was 9:26. It was still fairly early so I got up and checked Peter's room to make sure he was gone before heading downstairs. 

". . . So that's when Gwen told me that she only liked me as a friend, and she didn't accept my Valentine's Day card. I worked super duper hard on it in arts and crafts!"

"Wow. She sounds like a bitch." Tony replied flatly.

I quietly walked into the kitchen and that's when I saw Tony shirtless, behind the bar pouring Peter a shot glass of something amber in color while Peter sat on a bar stool eating toast.

"What's... Going on here? Is that whiskey you're giving him?" I rubbed my eyes and looked at the glass.

"What? No. Who the hell do you take me for? It's apple juice. He wanted to feel like an adult and drink it out of a shot glass so who was I to stop him, right? I just gave him another round every time he said 'hit me." I grabbed the glass and sniffed it anyways, just to make sure.

"Oh... Ok." I set the glass back down and sat on the bar stool next to Peter. Tony cleaned out a mug and set it down in front of me. He poured some coffee into it and a little bit of creamer. I smiled sleepily and kissed his cheek. "Thanks." I sipped the liquid salvation and closed my eyes as it slipped down my throat and slowly filled me up with warmth and energy.

"You're welcome Steve."

"Hey! You promised that when dad woke up, you'd answer my questions."

"Oh yea... I forgo-" I interrupted Tony and looked at Peter as my eyes widened. I almost didn't catch that.

"D-did you... Call me dad?"

"Yea... Did you wanna be called something else? I'm sorry-"

"No no!" I reassured him. "It just shocked me a bit since you just met us yesterday. I thought you'd want to get used to us first before you called us dad or something."

"Well... I kinda like you guys so I'll call you dad and pops from now on!" I loved this little guy so much. I couldn't have asked for a better kid.

"O-oh... Wow... Alright."

"Well," Tony chimed in. He never liked being ignored for more than 3 seconds. "I'll start answering any of your questions starting now."

"Well, why do you have that electromabober in your chest?"

"ElectroMAGNET." Tony corrected. "And it's there to keep pieces of shrapnel from getting to my heart."

"Oh... It kinda looks like the thingie that Ironman... Has..." Pete's eyes widened as he pieced two and two together. "No... No way... I WAS ADOPTED BY IRONMAN!? OH MY GOSH! THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!"

"Yes, I am Ironman but ya know, you're other dad here is ALSO a superhero. Think you can guess which one?"

"Hmm..." Peter brought his knuckle to his lips and squinted at me closely. "Umm... Can I get a hint?"

I snorted as he was having a little more trouble figuring out who I was. If he couldn't guess, I must've had a damn good mask on when the press got pictures of me. 

"Sure bud. First avenger."

"CAPTAIN AMERICA!" He sure did know his superheroes. "THAT'S why you said you were frozen! THIS IS SO CRAZY!!!" I just smiled and ruffled his hair. 

"Yea we get that impression a lot." Tony walked to the fridge and took out a carton of milk. "Next question?"


	10. Tony: Chapter 9

"Umm, I-I dunno know... I'm kinda just psyched that you guys are BOTH superheroes! When I grow up, I wanna be a superhero too and look for my real parents. Then, they could meet you and we could all be a big, giant, family!" He smiled bright and for a single moment, I felt a twinge of guilt. When I saw this kid's file, they said his parents both died in a plane crash. Yeesh... How and when was I supposed to tell him that? 'Oh happy birthday kid; your parents died in a plane crash when you were 6'. I don't want to be blunt about it or make him hate me so I won't say anything for now. Maybe Steve could break it to him when he got older.

"Oh, well kid, you can be whatever you wanna be when you grow up. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise. Just don't be a prostitute because then I'd have to disown you." I stared down at the milk carton in my hand and drank out of it when Steve looked away. He always hated when I did it but wasting a good cup for a sip of milk was stupid. "So now-" I put the milk carton away quickly and looked back at Pete who was staring at the fridge with his nose scrunched up. "What."

"I saw you put the milk back after you-"

"Hey hey. Didn't your orphanage moms or whatever, tell you it's rude to stick your nose where it doesn't belong? Anyway as I was about to say, I have to lay down the basic rules now. When's you're usual bedtime?"

"Umm, 10!" 

"Ok. Bedtime's at 9 P.M sharp," Peter let out a small sigh. "So when either me or dad check on you, you better have your butt in bed and not just pulling the covers back, got it?"

"Yep."

"That's yes sir to you."

"Yep."

"Lil' smartass..." I mumbled under my breath. "Ok. Next, don't overload Jarvis with useless commands. Yea sure he's not your average AIU, but he's not indestructible. He gets overloaded and shorts out from time to time and it's a real pain in the tush to reboot him, so don't make my life hell. Got that?"

"Yep."

"Good. Oh, also, no going into the basement by yourself; not that you'd really be able to get in. It's password protected but still. It's dangerous, and that's pops' private haven away from the stress of the day and his nagging spouse."

"Watch it Tony. His nagging spouse has superhuman strength." My loving spouse nonchalantly stated while he sipped more of his coffee.

"Ah yes. My back and hips are well aware. And another thing Peter. If you see the door to my room is closed, both me and Steve are inside, and you hear noises, knock first and wait for the okay to enter."

"Oh god Tony..." Steve covered his face as it went red.

"What? He needs to know so it's not awkward for him."

"Why?" Peter said as he finished the rest of his toast.

"Because I said so. Don't question me." He stayed quiet for a while as he thought about my response. "I think that's it for the rules on my part. Wanna add anything Steve?"

"Umm... Just the usual, no playing with random machines you find laying around, don't run with anything sharp, and go to sleep when we tell you because if Tony won't, I'll check. And you don't want me to check because I used to be in the army."

"What he said." I pointed to Steve.

"Aww no fair... Those are like the same rules back at the orphanage..."

"Then you should feel right at home." I said with a quickness. He stuck out his bottom lip and folded his arms. He could pout for however long he wanted but that wouldn't change a damn thing. He better learn that quick or he'll be facing a hard truth here in the Stark household. "Oh yea Steve? I have to go back to the doctor's today so you'll be spending a majority of your time with Pete. That ok with you?"

"That's fine. Is everything alright with you?" 

"Yea. Don't worry about it. I'm fine." I lied straight to his face and smiled right after. I then walked out from behind the bar and went upstairs to take a shower, put on jeans, some sneakers, a plain black hoodie, and grab my keys. It took me about 40 minutes to get ready and run back downstairs. "Alright, see you guys later." I hopped on one foot to fix my shoe and turned back to see Steve and Peter on the couch watching the rest of Annie.

"See you later!" They called back in unison. I just smiled, ran down to the basement and picked out a car to drive and pulled out of my underground garage.

*~~~~*

Took me about 20 minutes to get to the doctor's office, but that was because there wasn't too much traffic since it was still early. I parked my car next to some beat up, dirty, red 2000 Honda CRV with a busted side mirror and it reminded me that I need to wash my own car. I snatched my shades out of the cup holder and put them on before walking into the hospital.

"Hi, how may I help you today sir?" I was greeted by a lady at the front desk with short brown hair and pale blue eyes. I smiled my signature 'Lady Killer' smile and leaned an elbow on the counter.

"Hey there. I have an appointment with a Dr. Ramsay for..." I stared at my wrist watch and then looked back at her. "10:30. It's under 'Stark'? Actually, can he see me a little earlier?" I looked around briefly to make sure nobody had their phones out, or was looking at me and took of my shades so she knew who I was. Her eyes widened a bit and she quickly looked through her roster as I put my shades back on.

"Well... I think he's in and since there isn't anyone before you, I guess it would be ok." She got up from her chair and went into the back to get a nurse so I stood around patiently. I was soon greeted by another brunette girl with hair down to the middle of her back. She had a cute, crooked smile and lead me through some double doors and down a long hall. She took a turn through a door at the back of the hall on the left and I followed.

"So I hear you're going to take the cancer medication today?" She strapped on a pair of white latex gloves and gestured for me to sit on the medical bed at the back of the room. She gave me the basic once-over and then told me what the doctor was going to do to me.

"So... If I take these drugs or whatever, I'll have more of a chance of surviving? Are you positive?" I gripped the edge of the bed hard enough for my knuckles to turn white. I can't play with my life anymore. I have Steve and Peter and if I can't make it out of this... Well, Steve would kill me twice.

"Well, nothing is positive but we can give it a shot. So, you took a CT scan last time you were here right?"

"Yea. He said there wasn't much to worry about so I could just take some chemo-juice or whatever."

"Well then that makes my job easier. I'll let him know you're ready to see him then." She turned on heel and left me alone in the cold room. Nobody came back in for a good 20 minutes and it gave me time to think, snoop, and swing my feet over the edge of the medical bed. 

"Ironman is it?" A man no taller than myself walked in with a clipboard and thin-rimmed glasses that slid down his face every time he looked down.

"The one and only."

"I'm sorry to not address you professionally but I am a HUGE fan." He took my hand in a firm grip and shook it a little too hard. His hands were big, clammy and rigid. Loosen up a little would ya?

"It's fine. I get it all the time." I took down my hood and put away my shades and looked at this kid. Probably not a day over 30 with short curly black hair and dark green eyes. He had sharp cheek bones and a long face and he constantly brought his long, thin fingers to his face to push his glasses back up. "So. What are we doing."

"Umm, err," He seemed to have lost his train of thought when he caught me evaluating him. "A-ah yes. We got the results back from your scan relatively quickly and I have to say, you have an amazing body for a man your age." Eh?

"What's that supposed to mean." I leaned back on the bed and squinted my eyes at him as he walked towards one of the walls and pinned two pictures from the clipboard, onto a board on the wall.

"Well, here's a picture of the cancer cells in your body." He points to a black clot of ink near my upper chest. "There really aren't that many to be TOO concerned about. I mean, of course you should be worried about it; it's cancer after all but I mean it's HIGHLY unlikely it would kill you if we deal with it now. It's still in its early stages."

"Uh... Huh. Yea, I don't mean to rain on your parade or anything but can we skip the medical jargon and get to the medication now?"

"Ah! Of course." He took down the pictures and fumbled with the clipboard clip for a little while before speed walking over to the sink and washing his hands. "I'm going to prescribe this pill called Liqui-Del that is classified as a glucocorticoid and has many uses in the treatment of cancer."

"Wait wait. Glucocorticoid?"

"Yes it's-"

"No I know what the hell it is. I want to know why you're prescribing one to me. They have some pretty harmful side affects that could KILL me, or cripple me permanently for the rest of my life."

"Well, I don't mean to speak out of turn but don't all medications have potentially harmful side affects if your body rejects them?" This damn kid doesn't know what the hell he's doing to me. If I die, I'll haunt his ass for the rest of his mortal life and my dead one. I just sighed and waved my hand dismissively.

"Alright. Get to the point Ramsay."

"Right. This medication is given to you in a pill form. If you miss a dose, don't take a double dose the next day. This medicine is to be taken once a day and take them with food or after meals. For today, I'll give you a liquid shot but from tomorrow on, you'll take the pills." He put on some latex gloves, and reached into the cabinet. "Please take off your jacket so I can give you the medication." I just rolled up my sleeve and held out my right arm.

He wiped the fold of my arm down with some alcohol and took out a vile and syringe. He slowly extracted the liquid and flicked the syringe three times. 'Get on with it.' I thought as he took his time holding my elbow and pricking me with the needle. He slowly let the medicine flow into my system and I watched as his hand shook a little. Was he nervous? What the hell is with this kid.

"There. All done." He slapped a bandage on my wound and I lowered my sleeve down carefully. My arm was already feeling sore but it was probably because of the way he injected it. 

"Yea thanks doc." I mumbled as I received my prescription, finished up at the front desk and headed to the local pharmacy.


	11. Steve: Chapter 10

It was way past lunch when Tony came back from the doctors. He looked a little pale and his head hung low as he walked up to me. I got up from the couch quickly and looked at him with worried eyes.

"Tony..."

"Steve... Umm..." He sighed and glanced down at Peter peeking over the top of the sofa at him as well. "What's for dinner?"

"Dinner... Oh. Right. Umm, well what do you feel like?"

"PIZZA!" Peter chimed in. He bounced on the couch as Tony hung up his jacket. Something fell out without his noticing and I looked at it for a while. I decided to walk behind him and pick it up. A prescription bag from the pharmacy?

"Sure. It's Friday. Oh and Pete, be ready for school on Monday cause that's where you're going."

"Uuugggghhhh... Do I have to?"

"I won't let idiots inherit the Stark Industry so you better get cracking on those books. And besides, I know you're a smart kid. You'll do fine."

"Glucocorticoid? What's that?" Tony whipped around and snatched the bag from my fingers and held it close to him.

"Err, it's an ingredient in allergy medicine. Don't worry about it."

"But aren't glucocorticoids dangerous?..." Peter mumbled quietly. I turned and saw Tony giving Pete a look and Pete sinking further below the top of the couch. 

"Alright look you guys. Enough of the 50 questions. I'm hungry so I'm gonna order pizza and that will signal the end of this conversation on my pills." I looked at him and opened my mouth to object but decided against it and sighed instead. "What type of pizza do you want Pete?"

"EXTRA CHEESE!!!" 

"Right. Pepperoni it is. Jarvis, call the pizzeria." Peter groaned loudly and mumbled to himself again.

"But I don't like meat on my pizza..."

"Meat makes you strong." Tony said while he waited for the pizzeria to answer. "It puts some hair on your chest. You and Steve need to understand that. Bunch of hairless pansies..." The pizzeria finally answered and Tony snapped to attention.

"This is Big Rico's pizzeria; how may I help you?"

"Yea lemme get uh... One large pie with 1/3 cheese, 1/3 extra cheese, and 1/3 pepperoni on it."

"Is that all?"

"You guys want anything else?" I just shook my head and looked at Peter.

"Umm, do they have cinnamon sticks?"

"You guys have cinnamon sticks?"

"Yes sir."

"Alright let's go with that too then."

"Alright. The total is $23.97. It will be ready shortly. What's your address?"

"It's 10880 Malibu Point. 30 minutes and it's free right?"

"Yes sir."

"Good." He hung up without another word and clasped his hands together. "Well, I'm gonna go make sure it takes them more than a half hour to get here."

"Wait. Tony, can I talk to you?" I needed to know the deal behind those pills. They weren't just allergy medication because Tony seldom got allergy attacks in the first place.

"Sure Steve, what do you want?"

"In private?" I glanced at Peter and then back to Tony.

"O-oh... I got it I got it. I'll make myself scarce..." Peter got up from the couch slowly and jogged up the stairs to his room. I waited a couple minutes until I was sure Peter was upstairs before continuing with my inquiry.

"What's the real deal behind those pills, Tony. Don't lie to me."

"What are you talking about Steve? I told you that they were prescription allergy pills. Glucocorticoids are a type of antihistamine that help stop inflammation and all that good stuff. Don't worry about it." I folded my arms and looked at him sternly.

"Don't try to pull that bullshit off with me Tony. You rarely get allergies in the first place and we have allergy medication in the bathroom. There would be no reason for you to get prescription meds unless it turned into something else; something more serious that requires me to worry about you." I'm not as dumb as I look and I know that Tony was hoping I was. He just shifted his weight from one leg to the other and lowered his voice.

"Steve, there's nothing for you to worry about. I promise. I've got everything under control. They really are good for allergies and I only need to take them once a day after meals. They won't be a huge distraction or anything." 

"A distraction?" I raised my voice just a little louder and looked at him incredulously. "Do you think I give a damn if it's a distraction!? I care about your HEALTH Tony. A distraction is a minor discomfort while your health is first priority. I want to know why you're really getting these pills because your health and well being is my utmost priority and responsibility as your husband-"

"Fiancé-"

"I DON'T CARE TONY! THAT ISN'T THE POINT!" I sighed and rubbed my face with my hands. "The point is that I care about you. Please just promise me that you're telling the truth, and look me in the eyes as you tell me those pills are for something as trivial as allergies and nothing else." I waited in silence until Tony sighed and looked up at me. His dark brown eyes glazed over and his expression unwavering.

"I promise you Steve that these pills are for allergies only and you don't need to worry about me." He smiled weakly and looked towards the staircase. "And you can come down now Pete. I know your hiding there." It was silent for a few more moments before Peter stood up from his hiding spot and slowly walked down the steps.

"I didn't mean to snoop; honest. It's just that I heard dad yelling and I didn't want you guys to fight..." Peter trailed off silently as he hid as much of his body behind the railing post as he could. "I'm sorry..."

"No Pete... You didn't do anything wrong." I sighed and rubbed the back of my head. "I didn't mean to yell and startle you. Me and pops just got a little... Heated, is all." 

After that whole discussion, we all waited around the tv until the doorbell rang and Tony went to answer it. The pizza arrived earlier than expected and we all ate in silence.


	12. Tony: Chapter 11

I continued to lie to Steve for two more years.

Every time he asked about my 'allergies', I said they were getting better even though they weren't. The side affects of the drugs left me feeling extremely weak all the time. I went to the doctors more often than I took Peter to school, but they couldn't figure out why nothing was working. Despite the medication they gave me, the cancer continued to spread, and at an alarming rate. It was safe to say that after running some of my own tests, I received some sort of poisoning from the gamma radiation as well as the cancer. The poisoning may have had something to do with the continuous and rapid deterioration of my health, but I couldn't find any way to stop or even slow down the poison's effects.

The medication for my cancer treatment kept piling up to the point where I had pills in my lab, in my car, in the bedroom and in the bathroom. About 4 months ago, they told me to stop taking the pills so they could put me on External-Beam Radiation treatment. I grew frantic at the thought that if this doesn't work, nothing else will. I tried to push the thought of leaving Steve and Pete out of my mind as I exhaustedly told them yes to the treatment. I've been going to the hospital for 5 days a week while Steve is at the gym and I've been loosing countless amounts of hair since then. Every time he asked me why I wore a hat 24/7, I always told him I was cold. It was only a matter of time before Steve noticed a clump I'd failed to clean up and caught on but until then, I had to keep up the façade.

*~~~~*

It was early Monday morning when I carefully sat up in bed. Steve was on my left; still sleeping soundly. I gently brushed some hair from his face and moved him so his head was in my lap. I numbly stroked the back of his neck with my thumb as I looked out the window. A grey day outside with slight drizzle coming down. I glanced at the clock that read 6:53 A.M and then glanced back down at Steve. It would be another half hour before him and Peter would get up to leave so I just sat in the silence knowing that once I'm up, I won't be able to go back to sleep.

"You thinking about something?" I jumped a bit at the sound of Steve's groggy voice and I quickly snapped out of my daze. 

"Huh? What? I thought you were asleep Steve."

"Well, I was until you nearly pulled my head off my shoulders in an effort to place me in your lap." He yawned wide and stretched his arms out. "And besides. You always like to stroke my neck when you're thinking. Not that I don't like it or anything." 

"Yea well..." I was at a loss for what to say. This big bastard's awakening kinda caught me off guard. "I was thinking but it's nothing to worry your pretty little head about." Steve sat up and leaned on his elbow in between my legs. 

"You always say that. Why don't you trust me enough to tell me what's wrong? Grant it, I probably won't understand a majority of it but damn it Tony I'm willing to listen anyway."

"Well... Steve... I uhh..." I bit my lip and cleared my throat as I thought of a good enough excuse to give to him. "Well, gay marriage has been approved here in the state of California..."

"Tony... That's amazing news!! We can finally get married like we always wanted, and we can invite everyone we know!" He sat up quickly and looked at me with bright playful eyes and a smile that stretched from ear to ear.

"Y-yea I know Steve. I'm gripped with excitement just as much as you are."

"Really? You don't sound like it."

"Well, I knew about it for a while. I just wanted to surprise you with it a little later. I had this whole thing planned out with champagne and nice music but I guess you ruined it with your constant meddling." I was literally making this up as I went along. 

"Ah well, we can still have a nice evening despite the fact that I know about the approval of gay marriage."

"I guess that's true. We'll get to it once you come home from the gym and Pete is at school. It'll be brunch."

"Champagne that early?"

"What? It's not like you'll get drunk or anything with your damn roids. And you know I have no problem drinking whenever the hell I feel fit."

"I suppose. Alright. It's a date then." 

*~~~~*

I dropped Peter off at school a little earlier than normal but he was quick to jump out as he spotted two of his friends.

"Bye pops!" He said quickly while he undid his seatbelt.

"Hey hey hey. Where do you think you're going?" This kid was getting ready to bolt out of here without his backpack. I reached into the passenger seat next to me and leaned into the back of the car to hand him his bag.

"I saw my friends, Wade and Johnny! I wanna go play with them before Johnny's sister tries to hang with us and ruins all the fun." 

"Alright. Just be careful, stay away from strangers, don't eat weird shit you find on the ground, don't bring any of your ragamuffin friends home, yada yada you know the deal." I unlocked the doors and let Pete out. "See you later. You're taking the bus back home today." 

"Ok. See you later!" He closed the door and ran across the courtyard to greet his friends to which one of them hugged him tight, while the other high-fived him. Fucking weird ass kids he's hanging out with. I just shook my head and made a bee line for the hospital.

*~~~~*

I got caught in a shit ton of traffic on the way to the hospital. It was raining cats and dogs and some fuck-up who doesn't have four-wheel drive rammed into the back of a Mercedes-Benz and created hell for anyone trying to get past. Once I got to the hospital I was officially two hours behind schedule. I just walked to the front desk seeing as how I was already late that no amount of rushing was going to help and looked at the receptionist who, without looking up, pointed down the hallway I knew all too well. I continued straight down a series of halls and then into an empty room where I promptly sat down on the examination bed. Ramsay just so happened to be late due to rain as well and he walked in the room not even two seconds before I sat down.

"Good morning Mr. Stark."

"Ramsay."

"Sorry I'm so late. How are you feeling today? Any headaches, stomach pains, thoughts of suicide?"

"Uhh... I've had headaches and stomach pains but nothing more."

"If you had to rate the pain on a scale of 1-10, how would you rate it?"

"Look Doc, what does this have to do with my radiation treatment? You ask me to rate the pain of every little thing, every time I come here. If there's a slight itch on my ass you want me to rate how much of an annoyance it is."

"It's standard procedure Mr. Stark. If there's any pain whatsoever, I need to jot it down and make sure it doesn't turn into anything worse. Radiation treatment doesn't always work the way we want it to."

"Yea yea I know." I subconsciously tried to run my fingers through my hair but stopped as my fingertips reached the beak of my dark grey baseball cap.

"Well then, no need to procrastinate any longer. Let's get on with your treatment." He lead me down another set of halls into another familiar room. "Oh, and there's going to be a new doctor who's administering your radiation treatment from now on. He says he's familiar with you so that should make your experience here all the more enjoyable." He stopped right outside the door and gestured for me to walk in.

"Who is it?" I asked. As I started taking off my shirt and pants, I heard the slam of a door and a familiar voice sound from the corner of the room. 

"Mr. Stark. What a pleasant surprise." I turned to the corner of the room to see a familiar set of brown eyes behind a nerdy set of metal rimmed glasses.

"Banner? What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were in India."

"For three years? I think not. You haven't spoken to me since your proposal thingy you dick." He calmly walked towards me to avoid having to yell across the room.

"Yea well, I was too busy making the most of Steve's long lasting stamina and rock hard-"

"Ok. That's enough." I just stuck my tongue out and winked at him.

"So what the hell were you doing in the corner of the room?" I tossed my clothes at his face and smiled as he caught my shirt but missed my pants as the leg slapped his forehead.

"Oh, I just always wanted to do that." He took my pants off his face and folded my clothes properly. "You know that thing that villains do where the protagonist walks into their trap and the door closes behind them? But then the protagonist can hear the villain's voice via loudspeaker or something? Well, we don't have automatic doors here and a loudspeaker wouldn't have made sense since I needed to speak to you face to face so I compromised."

"You're such a geek, Banner." I was met with a crooked smile and a warmth I hadn't seen in a long time. "Anyways, why are you here. You're a scientist, not a medical doctor." I reached up to my ear and pulled off my hat carefully to show my thinning hair. I gripped the hat in my fist and watched him come closer and closer to me.

"Yea well..." He leaned in close to my face and whispered in my ear. "Director Fury knows about your situation. Did you really think you could hide it from S.H.I.E.L.D forever? Fury called me in because I knew most about gamma radiation and he pulled some strings in an attempt at getting me to help you. S.H.I.E.L.D has access to all of your records Tony. They know everything about you even when you don't." He eased up on my ear and gave me a worried look. "But let's just say I'm not here on official business. I'm here to help a friend. And don't worry about the whole treatment thing because I brushed up on some books about a month ago. It's actually not all that complicated."

I just rolled my eyes and scratched my chest. "Alright. I trust you more than I do these shitty doctors. And besides, if this doesn't work out, you can just shoot me with a ton of gamma rays and I'll turn into the Hulk too right?" He laid me down on the radiation bed and let out a nervous laugh.

"I hope you're joking. The amount of gamma radiation I was hit with could kill someone-WOULD kill someone." He corrected himself.

"But not you. And maybe not me too, if you get the amount right."

"Tony, that whole ordeal was an accident. An accident I don't like to recall. I didn't take notes on how much radiation hit me. Anyways, let's hope we can get rid of these cells so you WON'T have to deal with, 'The Other Guy'."

About an hour came and went, but of that hour consisted of about 5 minutes of actual radiation therapy, while the other 55 minutes were spent repositioning my body so the radiation would be most affective. Overall, I was in and out with a pretty pleasurable experience since Banner was my doctor.

"Hey Bruce," I said as I tried to hop on one foot and put my pants on. "Are you gonna be my doctor from now on?"

"Starting today until you no longer need treatment. Think of it as an unwanted bro-mantic bonding experience." Bruce leaned against the wall and cleaned his glasses off on his shirt. 

"Ha. Very funny. I didn't know India would pack you with a sense of humor." I picked up my shirt and carefully put it on as to not yank out what was left of my thin and fragile hair.

"Are you kidding me? I was always this witty. I just didn't want to say anything because I didn't want to show YOU up. I know japes are more of your shtick and seclusion is mine so I stuck with it." I fixed my shoes and looked at him.

"Well, jape a little more. That smile looks good on you." He smiled back and I patted his shoulder as I walked out. Next plan on my list was to fix up brunch in an hour. I'd be cutting it close but I knew where to go.

*~~~*

"Ahh, finally. Just me, myself and I."

"Don't forget about me sir."

"Can it, Jarvis." The door locked behind me as I took off my shoes. The plastic bag in my hand rustled quietly as I walked to the kitchen and set it down on the counter. "Jarvis, what time does Steve usually walk in after the gym?"

"Around 11:30 A.M. Then he takes a bath for an average time of 15 minutes, has a cup of coffee with cream and sugar, then proceeds to clean and catch up on his list of things he missed until it is time to pick up Peter from school around 2:45 P.M."

"Oh. Stalker much? I didn't ask for his whole schedule; just the estimated time of when he comes home."

"11:30 A.M sir."

"Yea yea I heard you the first time. Don't bother me for a while ok?" I looked at the clock on the wall that read 11:03 A.M. Just enough time to make sure everything was running smoothly. I took a quick shower and dressed in one of my best suits. I sprinted around the house trying to find table cloths without wine stains or unmentionable bodily fluids on them. Good memories, just not brunch worthy. After searching for 5 minutes I decided that none of them were clean enough and so I yanked the drapes off the wall and covered the dinning table with it. Looked good.

After smoothing the wrinkles down, I placed down two champagne glasses, two fine-china plates and one silver fork and knife to each plate. I even expertly folded some napkins and placed them next to the plates for good measure.

"Alright Jarvis. Which champagne goes best with crepes?" I opened up the foam container inside the plastic bag and put two crepes on a paper plate that went straight into the microwave. "I was thinking some sort of sparkling champagne. Something sweet and fruity. Steve is into that."

"Good choice sir. I would suggest a sparkling White Champagne or an Orange Muscat."

"Hmm... I'll go with a sparkling White Champagne." I jogged downstairs as quickly as I could and unlocked the door to my lab. Almost immediately, my wine cellar opened up and rows of various and expensive wines rolled out by my feet and I nearly tripped over it. I skimmed through each bottle until I found the one I wanted, snatched the champagne and ran upstairs quickly. I had about 10 minutes before Steve would walk in and I prayed he didn't decide to come home early.

I took the crepes out of the microwave and put them onto the fancy plates. They looked pretty plain so I grabbed some chocolate and strawberry milk syrup and drizzled them on top respectively. What Steve didn't know, wouldn't kill him... 

"Oh. Candles. Gotta set that sexy mood." I ran back into the kitchen and grabbed two candles and a lighter. My fingers fumbled with the trigger but once the candles were set and lit, I knew it was worth it.

After preparing it all, I heard the keys turn in the door and I sprinted to the piano with a quickness. I tripped halfway there and kinda fell into the seat but it worked.

"JARVIS! DIM THE LIGHTS!" The lights dimmed almost as soon as Steve walked in. His gym bag slid off his shoulder and landed against the wall with a loud thud and the door locked behind him. Before he could take in the scenery, I started playing the piano as softly as I could. He looked up quickly at the sudden sound and started to register everything going on around him.

"Tony? What the hell?"

"Don't you remember our date? Come on. It was like 5 hours ago that we made this agreement. Don't tell me you're brain is starting to age instead of your body." 

"Ha ha very funny," He looked around once more and then snickered. What the hell was so funny? "Tony. Weren't there curtains on the far wall over there?" He pointed to the only bare wall in the room.

"Uhh, no-look. That's not important. What IS important, is you, me, and these crepes. It took me a while to make them just for you." 

He raised a judgemental eyebrow at me and looked from the table to the kitchen. "Oh really? You've never cooked a day in your life."

"Goddamnit Steve stop patronizing me and let's eat ok? We have important things to talk about."

"Fine fine. But let me take a quick shower. I just came from the gym and I'm pretty sweaty." He lifted up his gym bag and walked upstairs to take a bath.

10 minutes passed before Steve came back down again in one of his fancy suits. He adjusted the cufflinks as he walked down the stairs and looked over at me as he walked over. 

"How do I look?" He stood next to the piano and I glanced up at him only to take a double take and scan him thoroughly.

"Wow Steve... That suit looks real good on you... Wait, is that my suit?" He just smiled and pulled me off the piano stool. 

"Please. Like I could fit into one of your Oompa Loompa-sized suits. Come on, let's eat." 

We sat down at the table and I took the champagne bottle in hand and poured some for both of us. He took the glass between his fingers and I put the bottle down to do the same.

I raised the glass a little and looked into Steve's bright eyes. "Here's to our everlasting love. A burning flame that will only grow stronger from here on out."

"Here here." He nodded at me and clinked glasses. We both took a sip of the sweet elixir and smiled.


	13. Steve: Chapter 12

I took a short sip from the bubbly drink and savored its light, fruity taste. It was delicate and had a nice aroma. I then looked down at the obviously microwaved crepe sitting on the plate before me. It was a nice gesture, really it was, but I should have told him before that I didn't care for them very much. They're just too sweet for me. Well, he didn't know and I'd feel bad letting it go to waste so this one time I picked up the fork and dug in with as much feigned gusto I could possibly muster.

"Mmm. This crepe is delicious Tony. Where'd you get it from?" He opened his mouth and furrowed his brows to look offended. 

"Whaaat!? I made this just for you babe. My blood, sweat and tears are LITERALLY in that crepe you're eating."

"Oh really," I cocked an eyebrow at him and smirked. "So if I check the dishwasher right now, all the blood, sweat and tear-stained pots and pans will be in there right?"

"Well you don't need to check. Just trust me on this one. And besides, I already washed them and put them away." 

"Yea ok." I just brought another forkfull of crepe to my lips. 

After the crepes were eaten and at least 3/4 of the champagne were injested, Tony made his way to the grand piano and sat down as he did before and played a soft melody. I got up and followed him as well and sat on the edge of the stool to watch his slim fingers glide across the keys. The song felt somewhat sad to me but it was beautiful nonetheless. Few people knew how gifted he was at the piano and I intended to keep it that way. 

I watched in silence as Tony's long eyelashes lowered in consentration when he moved his fingers. I rested my head on his shoulder and hummed a similar lullaby that matched the rhythm of his song. My eyes closed as I remembered line after line and far away memories seemed to wash over me and take me away. I was in a trance; Tony put me there and I didn't want to snap out of it. I don't remember how long I stayed like that and I don't remember when I opened my mouth to sing the words aloud but I did and I felt Tony smile a little next to me.

"What are you singing?" He asked softly. "It's beautiful."

"Hardly. It's just a song from my youth. A catchy little tune that put youngsters to bed, is all." I straightened up a bit and looked at his profile. He remained stoic in appearance as the entrancing melody neared its end. "What are you playing?"

"A song I came up with based off of your singing in the shower. You sing pretty loudly, Cap. Might wanna remind you that you're not on American Idol." My cheeks flushed and I looked at the ground out of embarrassment.

"Shut the hell up Tony." He chuckled lightly and I watched the smile slowly fade from his eyes as he slipped back into concentration. "So... About the whole marriage thing. Are we going to talk about this or not?"

"Of course we are." He lifted his hands from the piano and turned to face me. "But first, let's dance for a bit. I know you can so don't tell me you can't. I've watched you practice by yourself in the laundry room over a billion times. You're not THAT bad."

I let out a small sigh and stood up with my arm extended towards him. "Fine. Let's get this over with." He smiled and took my hand gently and I pulled him close to my body the way I had practiced. Almost on cue, Jarvis started playing slow music and Tony wrapped his arms around my neck while I wrapped mine around his waist. I looked down and watched my feet move carefully so I wouldn't miss a step or stomp on Tony's toes.

"Hey Cap. Why do you look so serious? It's just a slow dance."

"Yea I know but... I'm just remembering how I promised a friend I'd do this with her."

"When?"

"Oh... About 67 years or so ago."

"Wow. That's one hell of a stand-up."

"Yea... She sure was something else though... She was going to teach me how to dance. But..." I shook my head clear of the daymares and focused on the shine on the tip of my shoes. "Never mind. It's not good to talk about old partners in the midst of present ones."

"Such a gentleman you are. But I wanna know about you and this mystery gal. Was she hot? Did she have big boobs?"

"Tony can you not? Please? I might just step on your feet if you make me lose concentration." I tried to stop him before he crossed the line and I ended up crying over the memories of losing Peggy.

"Alright alright. Sorry Steve." He looked up at me and kissed my lips softly. I caught myself trying to lean back against his lips as he pulled away but I stopped myself quickly. 

We stayed on the hard wood floor for ages, just dancing in the middle of the day. We matched each other's steps to the point where the whole dance looked like one whole fluid motion. I closed my eyes after a while and Tony rested his head against my chest; quietly humming along to the repeating song.

"Hey Steve..." Tony mumbled quietly; almost like he was afraid to break the silence between us.

"Yes?"

"I kinda wanna get laid right about now. How about you?"

"There's a much better way of phrasing that you know. And why is it always sex with you?"

"Why is it NOT always sex with you?" I opened my mouth to argue but realized it was pointless. I just sighed and looked down at the top of his head.

"Fine. Let's head upstairs. It IS a nice occasion."

"You're damn right it is."

*~~~~*

Once we got upstairs, all the bets were off; and so were our pants. I could barely slip off my vest before Tony was pulling me close to him by my tie. Between the licks and kisses, I wiggled my vest off as quickly as I could and kicked off my shoes.

"Hey... Tony wait... Take off... Take off your clothes first... Goddamnit Tony stop... Stop kissing me for a sec so... So you can hear what I'm saying."

"I don't need to hear what your saying. I just need to feel what you're feeling." In a quick 1-2 maneuver, he expertly shook off his suit and tossed it on the floor. I froze up a little and thought that if I even tried to take off my clothes like he did, I'd probably pull a muscle or rip my shirt. He definitely had to have been an expert to be able to slip off his clothes so easily. That or he was practicing...

"Now. What are you waiting for, Rogers? Keep your tie on. You're sexier like that." And with that I just flung my suit aside and kept on my tie; the only clothing I had on besides my socks.

Two bodies molded into a single, inseperable figure; heat ran rampant throughout the room. Moans of ecstasy echoed in my mind as my fingers traced the outline of every dip and curve that made Tony unique. For the first time in a long time, we actually savored the feeling of our bodies melted in a tight embrace. Everything was all soft licks and feverish groans that made my head spin.

"Steve..." Tony gasped between breaths. His fingers intertwined in mine as a string of hickies marked up his chest, shoulders and neck. "Fuck... It's so good..." His back arched as a single moan escaped his lips. My hickies had left a trail all the way down to his inner thigh and without a word I sucked him off. One leg over my shoulder and the other on the bed, I felt Tony's body tense up. 

He was all butchured breathing and twitching muscles. One hand fit to mine and the other gripped a clump of my hair. I could feel him tense up even more as I took his whole length. His grip on my hair tightened and he groaned a little louder.

"Fuck... Cap I won't... I-I won't last if you keep doing that. Just fuck me already." I lifted my head up quickly at the invitation and looked at him.

"Oh yea? That sounded pretty desperate. What if I just teased you? Would that be ok?"

"No! Steve don't fuck around with this shit." I made a low, seductive chuckle and brushed my fingertips along his abdomen. I watched his stomach shiver at my gentle touch as I came to my decision.

"Fine. I'll take you. But don't yell at me if you can't get up later on to pick up Pete."

"I won't need to. Pete is taking the bus home so it's just you and me baby."

"Wait... You're having him take the bus home?" I sat up in bed and looked at him incredulously. "The school bus doesn't even come remotely close to this area!" Tony groaned and sat up too.

"Steve, calm down. We've got a while before he even has to decide. We can run by and pick him up if need be. Ok? Now fuck me." He pulled me on top of him by the tie and I pushed Pete out of my head for the moment as I slid inside Tony. 

The rhythmic slapping of skin on skin drove the both of us crazy. It was an intoxicating feeling to be so close to another person and have them writhe and twitch underneath you. The heat shared between our bodies and the exertion used to make each other feel good made us sweat. It made me want to go even harder and go even faster to get off. 

"Tony..." I kissed the skin underneath his jaw and licked his neck. "I'm gonna come..."

"Shit... M-me too... It just feels so good I can't... Urgh..." Shortly after he came, I did too. 

*~~~~*

After the intense heat between us died down and we both caught our breath, Tony looked at me with tired eyes. 

"Let's talk about the marriage thing now."

"Really? You ready to talk about it?"

"Yea. Then after that I'm gonna take a shower and tell you something I should have told you a long time ago." My eyes widened jokingly.

"Dont tell me that you've been cheating on me!" 

"What the fuck Steve? No. Who the hell would I even cheat on you WITH?"

"I'm joking Tony. I'd trust you enough to not do something that stupid to someone with superhuman strength, agility and years of military training. I'd hunt you down in a second."

"Yea that's exactly why I don't bother. That and no one can put up with me the same way you can."

"Wow. It's comforting to know that the only two reasons why you haven't cheated on me yet is because I could beat you up and because your an intolerable little shit. I was hoping for a more romantic reason like, 'Because my love for you cannot be matched,' or, 'The way your hands fit into mine can't be replicated.'"

"Steve... That is so immensely cheesy and sappy that I would probably choke on the words and keel over."

"Well I'D like it if those were the real reasons. But enough about that. This marriage thing. Now, I don't wanna sound like a giddy housewife or whatever-"

"Which essentially you are." I gave him a quick glare.

"But I really wanna talk about this with you. I'm excited about a this wedding and everything that goes with it." I took his hand in mine and gripped it tight. 

"Alright alright. Let's talk."


	14. Tony: Chapter 13

I never did get to tell Steve that I was dying.

I clammed up at the last second and kept it to myself like I did about everything else that mattered. We also never got to have a real wedding either. About 3 months before actually having it, my whole body burned up and I collapsed on the streets of New York. I was rushed to the nearest ER immediately and I was unconscious for... What, a couple hours or so? I don't remember what they told me. But Banner came in around the same time I woke up to tell me the thing I feared the most.

"Hey..." 

"Why... Am I here?" I looked around my hospital room and admired how clean it seemed... I was really just stalling my thoughts, now that I think about it. I knew why I was there in that hospital bed. 

"You collapsed a few hours ago. What were you even doing in New York? It's a fucking 5 hour flight by S.H.I.E.L.D jet. You just LOVE to create more paperwork for me. Don't you." I uttered a weak chuckle-groan at his attempt to keep the atmosphere light.

"3 hours by suit. I thought I'd take a short visit to Stark Industries and see how Pepper was holding up with building management," My voice barely came out louder than a squeak. No matter how hard I tried to raise my voice above a hoarse whisper, it stayed the same. "And before you say it, no, I didn't give a single fuck that I shouldn't be using the iron man suits. Maybe I had a death wish." Bruce just sighed and pushed his glasses up on his face.

"Listen... Tony I'm... I tried... I really did try..." Boom. There it was. No more beating around the bush from here on out. "I thought you could handle the gamma radiation but I just..." He brought his fingers up under his rimmed glasses to rub his eyes. "I'm so sorry..."

"Don't do this to me... Stop crying right now. Don't make me lean over this bed and slap you into a coma. Clean yourself up. You're just tired. You look like shit." That warranted a low chuckle as he removed his hands from his face to look at me.

"You're definitely not one to talk. You look even more like shit than I do. I just pulled an all-nighter last night."

"Yea well... I feel like shit. So it would only be natural that I look like it." I gave him a weak smile and sighed. "I'm dying. Aren't I?"

"Dying? You've been dying for the past few years. You might as well be labeled as dead by this point... I'm sorry Tony but... You won't be making it out of this one." I swear my heart skipped a beat. I had to glance at the heart monitor for a brief second to make sure it didn't. I needed all the heartbeats I could possibly get right now. "I did all I could and I tried almost every level of radiation that wouldn't kill you but it didn't do a DAMNED THING!" He slammed his fist on the bedside table and I flinched a bit from how loud it was.

"Bruce, Bruce look at me. It's not your fault and I want you to understand that. It's my own fault for not checking out my old suits. Heh... Me. Tony Stark. I never get nostalgic. But then the one day I am, it sends me straight to my grave." I smirked at the irony and looked down my nose to the end of the bed. "What a fitting death for someone like me."

"Cancer isn't a fitting death for anyone. But... I can't help but feel partly responsible for all... This." Bruce gestured around the hospital room with shaky hands. "A-anyways... I forgot to let you know. Steve and Peter are on their way here but I'm not sure they'll make it in time."

"In time for...?" Bruce paused for what seemed like decades before swallowing the lump in his throat and opening his mouth.

"In time for your deathbed. I give you a little less than a day. If you're lucky." I scoffed at this and looked at him incredulously.

"B-but I feel fine!"

"Well... You don't look it. Can you sit up?" I clenched my fists around the sheets on the bed and attempted the simple task of sitting up in bed. Well... Theoretically simple, until I attempted it. I was extremely weak... I could barely even lift my head to get up and everything felt like it was burning. "Exactly. Less than 24 hours."

"Bruce... Please there's gotta be SOMETHING you can do to keep me alive in at least enough time to see Steve and Pete. Just one last time. That's all I want."

"There's nothing I can do at this point Tony. All I can do is wait with you until they show up. If they get here on time that is."

"Then, if it'll be a while for them to show up, can you do something for me? It's my last request so you're like, legally obligated to follow it." Bruce chuckled dryly and put his hand on his hip.

"Sure pal. Anything."

~****~

It was close to 7 at night when they finally made an appearance and I felt even worse than I did in the morning. It was exhausting to even BLINK. And I'm not exaggerating or whatever, but I was afraid that if I took the nap I so desperately wanted, I might not wake up.

"Tony!?" Steve barged into my room with Peter gripping his hand tight. They ran up to my bedside and Peter burst into tears upon seeing my face. Wait... That came out wrong. Upon seeing my condition. "Oh my god... What the hell... I can't..." Steve bit his lip to keep from either crying, or finishing me off by strangling me to death.

"Steve, I can explain-"

"Save your breath," He spat curtly. "Banner told us on the way here. I can't believe you'd keep something so important from me! You even went to such lengths as to put makeup on to hide your complexion!"

"Even... Even If I told you... What would you do besides worry and mother me...?"

"I MOTHER YOU ALREADY BECAUSE YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A BIG BABY!" I cringed at the sudden loudness in the room and a nurse tapped his shoulder to remind him not to be so loud. Even though it probably wouldn't have made a difference by this point, I figured the nurse thought that the yelling probably wasn't good for what little health I had left.

"Listen I... I know you're upset but I thought it was best to not tell you and wait for it to... Blow over..."

"Cancer isn't something that just 'blows over' with time," His voice was seething with rage by this point. He spat out his sentances through gritted teeth and I could hear it shaking as he tried to control it. "Support from friends and family is a BIG part of the healing process. I, am, LIVID Tony. This thing was KILLING you, and you STILL couldn't trust me enough to speak up. I... I'm hurt that you couldn't believe in me to help you, and I'm even more distraught by the fact that no matter how much I chastise you now, you'll never get the chance to make it up to me!" Tears brimmed his eyelids and Peter cried even harder. I got so accustomed to his sobs that I forgot he was still in the room.

"I know... I know and I'm... I'm sorry... I really am... But don't talk like... Like I'm dead. I'll make it up to you... I promise..."

"You promised a lot of things you didn't see through. Don't make promises you don't intend to keep." I looked away and blinked real slow. I knew Steve was upset with me but there were so many things I wanted and needed to say... Better start with the truth.

". . . I'm leaving the estate and the fortune to you and Peter." I saw Steve jolt from the corner of my eye and I turned my head over to face him. My eyes were starting to droop and I was feeling awfully tired...

"No... No you can't say that..."

"You... Wanted the truth right? I know I won't make it..." I turned my head to look at Peter and I strained to reach my arm out to run my fingers through his hair. He was so warm... "Can I... Talk to my boy alone for a bit?" Steve hesitated before shuffling quietly out of the room. 

I waited until the door closed softly before watching Peter's back heave under the weight of his sobs. He was bent over the side of the bed, crying into his forearm. Pete shouldn't have had to experience dead parents twice in his life... I hated myself for dying and I hated myself even more for everything I couldn't do for him after I died. He and Steve deserved SO much more than I could ever give them. I was careless with my life and took them both for granted...

"Peter? Look at me please... I don't want to forget your brave face when I go."

"NO!" He sniffled loudly before burrying his face even deeper into the crook of his arm. "I don't want to see you like this... I don't want to remember you like this..." 

"Peter please... Please look at me. Give your old man a present on his deathbed and look at him. That's all I want." He slowly raised his head a little and I broke when I saw his red, tear-stained cheeks. His eyes were already puffy and swollen and I'm sure nothing I could say right now would coax a smile from him. "Peter... You gotta take my place in the house from now on ok? It's now you're job to make sure Steve is ok and to make him smile. He's everything to me and I never deserved him. Even with all the money I have, I wouldn't-COULDN'T, buy a better husband." 

Peter was quiet for a while before rubbing his nose with the back of his sleeve. He clenched the hospital sheets in his small fingers and looked at me with big, glassy brown eyes. 

"Pops?" Peter mumbled slowly. "Will you miss us when you die? Will you remember me and dad?" I stared at him without blinking while I thought about it. 

"Peter... Of course I'll miss you and Steve. I think that... Even though I'm going to die, a piece of you and Steve are going to come with me. I think your love will stay in my heart and I know this sounds SO sappy, but I believe it's true. And, I really WANT to believe it's true. But, if it's not, I'll need you to remember for me. Can you do that? Please?" Peter nodded slowly and I paused for a bit before continuing. I smiled to myself and closed my eyes as I thought about all the things I loved about Steve... And all the things I'd miss... "You know, Steve has natural blonde hair. And he hates the snow, but he loves the rain. He likes to lay in bed on lazy mornings. And he had this spot on the back of his neck he liked me to rub. He particularly enjoys candle light. And he likes to dance, but when nobody is watching. When he felt tired and down, he liked to lay his head on my lap. And he sang old songs I didn't understand, but I still loved to listen anyways. I cherished everything about him because... He was my reason to live." By now, Peter's head was all the way up and his ears were alert but really I was just rambling on just to reminisce. "I did it for him... Just to see his smile everyday when I remembered his favorite food, or when I played his favorite song..." A tear I didn't know I held in slid down my cheek and I clenched my teeth as I brought a weak hand up to wipe it away. "Pete I just... Need you to be there for your father when I'm not and don't... Don't let him slip. He may look like a strong captain on the outside but... It's just a front. Don't believe him if he says he's fine but his shoulders sag. Don't stop badgering him and saying, 'what's wrong' when he plops down onto the couch with a sigh. Don't let him..." I took in a slow, deep breath before continuing. "Don't let him slip through your fingers like I did."

"Tony... Did you really mean all that?" I opened my eyes to see Steve leaning against the doorway. He shuffled his way closer to the bed and wrapped his arm around Pete's back.

"I did. I meant every word... You two are my entire world so of course I'd remember all that. What kind of husband would I be?"

"Fiancé..." Steve corrected sadly.

"I know what I said. Reach into the nightstand..." I watched intently as Steve rummaged through the nightstand and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

"What is this?"

"Open it." Steve unfolded the paper and slowly brought a hand over his mouth. Tears fell down his cheeks and landed on the paper as he continued to read it.

"This is... This is a marriage license... How did you-"

"I asked Bruce to get it earlier today. He pulled a couple strings and, well... Here we are. It's crazy you know? Bruce just told them I was dying and they practically tripped over themselves trying to get this for me. All that's left is for you to sign it. I forced myself to gather all my energy just to sign it earlier so if it looks sloppy... Well, I tried." I could feel my energy fading fast. It was getting harder and harder to keep my eyes open so by the time Steve found a pen and signed his name in the appropriate boxes, I was already 3/4 of the way gone. 

"We're married Tony... We're legally married..." The last thing I felt was his soft lips against mine. My eyes closed for the last time and, I don't remember much after that except that I died a content, married man.


	15. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll warn you now, if you want to keep the story at a bitter-sweet ending, you probably shouldn't read this epilogue. Sorry everyone....

It was the funeral for my adoptive father.

It was raining especially hard that day and I had to have been about 9 or 10. I clutched the giant black umbrella in my hands and watched in silence as the coffin was lowered into the ground.

I didn't cry when they had the service. I didn't cry when they lowered the coffin. I had already cried all I could on his deathbed. No more tears would flow and at that time, I thought the sky was crying for me. Somewhere, the gods saw that a great man had left this world and since his son couldn't cry, they needed to cry in his stead. 

But I wasn't his son. I almost wished I was. For years after, I tried to fill in his shoes. I did everything I could and once I got my powers, I tried even harder to be just like him. But I knew I couldn't. 

"Hey Peter... You gonna be ok?" My friend Wade grabbed my shoulder and handed me my umbrella. When did I drop it? I didn't remember hearing it fall to the ground.

"I'll be fine." I continued to stare at the mound of dirt where my father's body lay 6 feet under. I felt another hand come up on my other shoulder and turned my head to the side to see my friend Johnny. They both agreed to come to the funeral since they were two of the few childhood friends I had.

"Do you want us to wait for you? Your dad looks like he might be a while." I looked up at Steve and saw him stoically staring at the mound as well. He reminded me a lot of a tombstone. His face was pale, and he had a rigid stance. I had a hard time telling if he was even breathing anymore.

"It's fine. Just go home you guys. I'll see you later."

"Ok." They said in unison. They both gave me a hug and their condolences as they headed to their parents' cars.

I don't remember how long I stood there in the rain before looking towards Steve and breaking down. I ran into his arms and hugged him as tight as I could as I sobbed into his chest. He dropped his umbrella and wrapped his arms around me like a mother would hold her child. I could just barely feel his back shudder under the weight of his sobs. I don't remember how long we stayed that way but it was strangely comforting being held that way by him. And very familiar.

The rain had let up some by the time we let go and both of us were soaked down to the bone. I thought crying helped him heal some. He stopped moving like a robot, and he started talking a little more. After all, he didn't cry when Pops died. He just stood over the body like a tombstone and remained in a trance. It frightened me a little because I thought it meant he didn't love him. Little did I know that it was because he loved him that he acted so strangely.

Steve held my hand all the way to our car and drove with his hands tightly around the wheel. He swerved a couple times and I feared that he wasn't in the right condition to get us home. But we did eventually. It was a sad, slow walk inside without Pops. Almost reminded me of the first night home without him. It was deathly quiet. Not even Jarvis said a word. We all just went to bed in the silent hopes that all of this was just a horrid nightmare. But of course it wasn't.

After walking inside, Steve quietly ordered me to take a hot bath. Standing outside in the rain the way we did would make me catch a cold, he said. So without a word, I quietly shuffled up to my room and into my bathroom.

I don't really remember turning on the water, but I remember letting it hit the top of my head and roll down my cheeks like tears. I kept the water on hot until I used it all up and all that was left was the cold. Once I had gotten out and changed into dry clothes, I stayed in my bed for a while just thinking about good things that would cheer me up. I eventually came to the idea that me and Steve could go to an amusement park or something. It brought a smile to my face as I thought about it and I ran back downstairs to find Steve sitting on the couch staring up at the ceiling. 

I slowed my pace on the stairs and watched him for a while to see if he was still alive. To my relief, he was breathing, but it was shallow and uneven like he was crying. I quickly made my way down the rest of the stairs and sat down next to him.

"H-hey Pete... I'm sorry." He said quietly. He brought a hand up to wipe his tears but I quickly moved his hand away.

"Don't be... Just let it out." I pulled his head close to my chest and hugged his shoulders as best I could. After that, I just watched him cry for a while. My thumb numbly traced the back of his neck and I stared up at the ceiling. It reminded me a lot of the day I first met him. I cried in his arms like this for hours. Now it was his turn. 

"Dad I..." I struggled with the right words to say after his crying had subsided and his breathing even out. I bit my lip as I tried to land on the right words. "Dad...?" I said quietly. No reply. I leaned against the back of the couch with a small huff. "Dad I just want you to know that... I love you. I love you and as I get older, I'll prove it to you. I'll make you proud to call me your son and... I know I'll never replace pops, but I hope I'll at least help fill the hole he left." I didn't really know how to word it without being cheesy but... I figured that that was a good start.

"Thank you Peter... Honestly, you don't need to try so hard for my sake." I thought he had fallen asleep...

"I-I... I want to. I don't want you to be sad anymore." Dad got up and shakily made his way to the stairs.

"Don't worry Pete. I won't be sad from here on out." He smiled faintly. "I love you, so, very much. Never forget that. I'll be upstairs for a while ok?" He slowly dragged his feet up the stairs and I watched him almost trip a few times. 

I didn't move for a while; my energy had been drained after everything that had just happened. In hindsight I probably should have gone to check on my father because once I heard the giant bang, it was too late. 

I jumped off the couch so fast it made my head spin but I had no choice but to shake it off and run upstairs. The bang was the sound of a gunshot; I knew that much at least. Since my father and I were the only two in the whole house at the time, I knew it was from him.

"DAAAAAD!!" I screamed so hard my face went red. I just kept screaming, and screaming, and slamming open doors looking for him, and screaming some more. 

It wasn't until my throat was scratchy and my lungs were burning that I found my dad. 

I pushed open the door to the study room and stopped short in the doorway; too appalled to set foot any further. 

The thick, metallic smell of blood mixed with the scent of gunpowder assaulted my nostrils when I breathed in. It was strong enough to make my stomach churn and make my breakfast threaten to come back up. But besides the smell, the sight was just as horrid.

My father's upper body lay draped over a writing desk, while his lower half stayed seated upright in the chair he died in. The gun he used rested next to his head where blood and chunks of brain leaked out from the back of his head. 

He died with a stupid smile on his face.

His eyes were closed and his still warm cheeks were wet with fresh tears. I covered my mouth as I stood in the doorway; afraid that the tiniest noise I made would wake the dead. 

After what seemed like forever, tears spilled down my cheeks and I rushed to Steve's rigid body. 

"DADDY! DADDY PLEASE DON'T GO! I CAN'T LOSE YOU TOO!" I shook his shoulders hard in a futile attempt at waking him up. He was already getting cold to the touch.

My first instinct was to call 911 and tell them what happened, and the receptionist told me to hang on as they dispatched the ambulance and cop cars.

I dropped the phone with a shaky hand and gazed off towards the desk. A slip of paper lay underneath my father's head and with a careful hand, I took it. It was spotted with blood and some words were smudged with what I figured were tears, but for the most part it was legible.

'Dear Peter,  
By the time you read this letter, I will have already killed myself. I promise you it was not your fault and I made sure to let you know beforehand that I love you very, very much. But a world without Tony was a world I couldn't see myself living in. I know I'm being vein and conceited, but I made sure that you would be well looked after. I asked Jarvis to do some research on your family and we found your Aunt May. You're going to be staying with her from now on and the Stark fortune is going to be withheld from you until you're 18. You won't have to worry any longer. Me and your dad are happy where we are and we both love you very much. Hopefully you'll understand when you're older.

Love, Daddy' 

Underneath it all was his signature and a few drying tear stains. I folded the letter up and slipped it into my back pocket. My eyes searched around for anything else and just so happened to settle on the gun laying on the desk. 

It was a standard revolver; nothing special and nothing odd about it. It looked new though, like he had bought it just for the sake of killing himself. I'd hate to think that that was the only reason he needed to use the gun.

I picked it up and it felt heavy and warm in my small hands. Nothing like how they portrayed it in movies. The hero could always lift one up with ease but for me, the weight was almost crippling; emotionally and physically. With a shaky hand, I flipped the gun over and over. I didn't know much about it at the time, and just assumed there were more bullets inside.

"Why me... What did I do to deserve this? I just wanted a family..." I sobbed out to myself. It was extremely quiet in the house now... 

I brought the barrel to my head slowly and closed my eyes. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I went through worst case scenarios in my head. The worst case I could think of at the time was that I survived and become a vegetable the rest of my life... Well, it was worth the risk.

I set my forefinger down on the trigger and whimpered a little as the sound of sirens could be heard further down the street. Now or never. I'd be with my dads soon if I did this now. 

My heart raced and my hand trembled as I took a slow, deep breath. The door downstairs sounded like it was being broken down. Funny, I didn't hear them call out and tell me to come to the door.

Now I definitely needed to make a decision. I loved my fathers too much to live a whole life without them. Dad must've felt that way about Pops cause now I understand the feeling completely.

The sound of multiple feet racing up the steps could be heard but, it didn't matter much to me then. I smiled to myself as I thought about seeing my dads again. 

"I'm coming you guys... Wait for me..." I whispered as my finger squeezed the trigger.


End file.
